


Count To Three

by GoldenQueenx



Series: Fics In Progress [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Gore, Horror, Milah is in memories, Some characters are mentioned without having a spoken part, This is a GoldenQueen fanfic, This is an AU, Thriller, Zombies, and loads of characters, but there are other ships present, no speaking parts for her so far, not sure how this is going to go, somewhat based on 28 days later franchise, sorry - Freeform, yet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-01-18 14:39:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 35,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12390132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenQueenx/pseuds/GoldenQueenx
Summary: Bad at summaries. Zombie AU. John Weaver runs a house for the uninfected survivors. Each person must help contribute to their safe house as they try and survive nightfall and the virus that seems to be spreading like wildfire. GOLDENQUEEN.





	1. Day 122

**Author's Note:**

> **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 122.**

The sun was high in the sky but John Weaver couldn't tell. He had been stuck inside of this old farmhouse for two months and the rations were slowly dwindling away. Steadily, he counted the canned foods in the top cupboard. The number having come up slightly shorter than expected. At this rate, he along with everyone else in the house would be close to starved by the end of the week.

Mumbling to himself, he turned quickly and headed out of the kitchen. He crossed through the main room where Graham had been training August for the past few hours. "Try and keep the cussing and breaking things down for a bit." He warned the two as he moved through and out of the room, into a place concealed by a tarp. It had been an office but the furniture had been destroyed for fire wood and replaced by five makeshift cots and two wooden fuck ups that were used as a stool and table for the lamp. "Well, Doctor?"

"I'm not an actual Doctor, Weaver."

The doctor was right about that. Archie had been one of those psychologists that wasn't recognized by any college or medical board. A sort of off the book medical consultant. But since the outbreak, he had been busying himself with learning whatever he could about the virus. He had went as far as capturing one of the infected and running tests until, well, he lost his patient.

"And are they?" Weaver prodded further, ignoring Archie's statement.

"No. They have been under my watch for the past forty either hours. They are in no way infected with the virus from what I can tell."

"Good. You two come with me." He turned before he could see them pull themselves off of their cots and catch up with him in stride. "This is he safe house. Our safe house. There's Archie, our doctor. Which you've met. There's Graham- " Stopping in the main room, he nodded in the direction of the man currently holding August in a headlock. He winked in the direction of the young blonde, in turn the man next to her stepped forward. Protectively. Weaver shook his head. "No fighting." Then continued his sentence from before. "Graham is our go to guy for groups who venture out of the house. He's tough as a brick and is a great trainer if you want to step up and go out in the town. August is around two weeks new to this house, he decided being cooped up wasn't his cup of tea. Venturers also moonlight as guards while others are sleeping. We have lost many, so there aren't loads of people here now..but I will introduce you to everyone if you intend on staying."

"We do... We have nowhere else to go. I'm Emma."

"And I''m David. Emma's older brother." He nearly hissed the last bit in the direction of Graham.

"Good, nice to meet you both. Follow me and we'll get you settled in." He headed up the stairs which creaked under their weight as they ascended. Motioning he pointed in each direction of his words. "Bathroom. Bathroom... Water works for now, will probably be shut off come a few months down the line. We have five bedrooms in the house. Emma you will bunk with Blu." Rounding the corner, he walked into the first bedroom, door having been open. He nodded to the woman who was purched against a window that didn't have as many boards over it, sewing - she was. "Blu makes bandages and mends clothing. If you have anything needs mending, she's your girl. She also works with Archie for nursing purposes."

Emma nodded, giving Blu a wave. "I'm your new roommate, I guess."

"That's really nice to hear, it gets so lonely here with just Ruby and I."

"Ah, right. Ruby is out with Mulan, gathering fruits from the trees down the road. It's an old farm we often visit to steal what we can. They are part of the venturers. Mulan used to train but currently prefers fresh air. So she taught Graham all she knows."

"I want to join them." Emma shot in their direction before they could leave the room. "The Venturers, I mean."

"Fantastic, we need more. So you'll train with Graham all day tomorrow. August has him this one."

"And I'll join too." David added quickly as they walked out of the bedroom, leaving the girls to bond. "I'm actually looking for my wife, so it would be nice."

"We only go looking for survivors every four days. But you'll train with Graham the day after Emma, unless Mulan is feeling generous." Weaver takes out a small notepad from his pocket and grips the pencil that had been stuck behind his ear, Writing down the days in which David and Emma would train with a slight m? Beside where Emma's day had been scheduled.

"Fine. That will work."

"You'll bunk with Archie. Just in here."

"What's that room?"

Weaver followed David's gaze, falling upon the half open door where rifles could be seen beyond along with boxes of ammunition. "My bedroom and the weapon room, among other things."

"You sleep in there with...all of that?"

"Yes. Now since you'll both be joining. I will add your names onto the chore list tomorrow. When your name is not on the list, it means you will be venturing out."

"Got it. Now what?"

"Now, you go into your bedroom or you can explore the house. But I should warn you.." He stepped close to him now, eyes burning into Davids. "... if either of you think of running away with anything you see here, I'll make it my personal goal to hunt you down."

"Noted. And I will pass that on to Emma."

Weaver left him then, walking back down the hall and descending the stairs back into the main room before pulling open the door and stepping out onto the porch. His eyes washed over the land beyond. Green grass, empty dirt roads and trees that went on as far as the eye could see. If he ignored the noises from behind him of training, he could imagine as if it were long ago when him and his wife sat on this very porch talking of what type of pie they would have for dessert. His wife...

Heartbroken, he hung his head in shame as the image of Milah flashed behind his eyes. Pain wrenching through his chest trying to pull him back into the depths of self pity. But before he could give way to the emotion, a sound of laughter poured through his ears causing him to look up in the direction from which it came. Ruby and Mulan were both swatting at each other with twigs in a game, seemingly, unsure. Their bags were hanging over their shoulders, swollen with goods they had collected from the farm which had stored enough goods for them to keep coming back to steal for the past few weeks since finding the place.

"Girls. Try and be quiet, the sun will set soon."

They both shot a sheepish smile in his direction before Mulan climbed the steps and tossed something towards where he stood. He caught it best he could, glancing down into the bag that held a load of canned food. He refused to chastise the girls any further and let them giggle their way into the house, talking about something he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to. His stomach gave a loud grumble as if appreciative of the relief on his shoulders. They would eat well for a bit.

The outbreak had a large impact on life and views in general. Before, he only had ever cooked what him and his wife liked or wanted. Never really going out of their ways to learn anything outlandish or on a whim. Now; he knew how to cook anything in a can or otherwise without a recipe book or instructions over a fire. Which would always be done before the sun actually set to avoid any smells wafting into the night air and catching the infected's metaphorical eye.

Leaving the porch, he closed and barred the door shut before calling off the training and telling everyone to keep their noises to a minimum. That had been one very important detail that Dr. Hopper had brought to the house. Infected had over sensitive hearing at night only - while during the day their senses seemed muffled, as if by a sheer film over the eyes, ears and nose.

It only took a couple of minutes for Ruby and him to put away the food while some strange concoction simmered to a good enough temperature to serve. In the basement, he placed a medium ration into everyone's bowls before footsteps sounded in his ears as everyone descended down to where he was. They ate and stored their food beneath ground to keep the infected from sensing it. The stove down there resembled something of a 1920s make which he put out as soon as the food finished to keep smoke from rolling through the night.

"Tonight, we have two new members to our house. Emma and David." He lifted a glass of water in their direction, followed by the others who were finding their seats with ease.

"Here, take these two." Blu instructed to the newcomers, who eagerly took their seats and nodded in the direction of everyone before them.

"Emma, David, if you two wouldn't mind being the first to take a bite...then we'll follow in suit."

It had been customary for newcomers to have the first bite of the meal of the day. As a sort of honor or respect shown since the moment this little home had been formed. They had all had their nights, apart from Weaver. He had been the very first here. Him and Milah.

Once the first bites were out of the way, they all ate in a semi-hushed silence. Words spoken were whispers as they made as much conversation as possible, all gobbling down the concoction that was honestly more crap than anything. Weaver wasn't the best cook, but tonight had been his night to make the meal and it was the best he could have done with such small ingredients. Once he finished, he grabbed Mulan's ration and headed up the stairs to the main floor, continuing on up and up until he reached the attic which was her bedroom. The window was open, so he climbed out onto the top of the roof and settled in beside where she sat. "Calm night?" He asked, handing Mulan the bowl he had in his hands which she took quickly.

"Seemingly, thank you. I'm starving." Digging in, she kept her attention on the trees beyond and the dirt road that led to this little safe haven of theirs. "Oh. You cooked."

He gave an apologetic look and nodded. "It's not nearly as good as last night's meal from August."

"Fuck, it's not even as good as the really bad batch Ruby tried to pass off as stew."

They both laughed then, low and hushed but it still felt good to have that vibration in their chests that this predicament had stolen. He took to watching now, searching with her so she could at least enjoy her meal in semi-peace. Not one Infected had crossed their paths back here but letting their guard down due to that was an absolute fuck-no. Having heard horror stories from Graham and his previous house. Same with Ruby and the pack she used to run with. Guards slipping were out of the conversation let alone the mind if at all possible.

"I mean really, what the fuck is in this. It can't even be-"

But her words faltered as Weaver placed a hand on her gun, pointing it in the direction of a figure that had just darted into sight from within the trees.

"Is that-" She began, but Weaver cut her off.

"Look through your scope."

Mulan placed her bowl between them on the shingles of the room and peered through the scope on her gun, finger poised at the trigger just in case. But what she saw wasn't what she expected as it danced through the light near their perimeter that they had set up. A woman, dark hair, seemingly normal eyes and clothes that were covered in blood. Her body, her running, the slight wobble she had when jumping over something wasn't normal Infected behavior. But her bloodied clothes, that was normal of Infected due to their enhanced rage. "I-I can't tell..."

"Is she alone, keep an eye on the trees."

"Yes, alone and okay I will."

Weaver turned then and headed in through the open window, trying to calm his breathing he descended the stairs down onto the main floor where Graham had begun showing August how to disassemble a weapon and then reassemble it. But Weaver grabbed the one August had been working on, put everything where it should be and headed out onto the porch. "Stay inside." He warned to the others before adding "Tell Hopper to come out here."

He walked to the edge, pointing the gun in the direction of the person running. Which, once close enough, they stopped and held their hands in the air. Around that moment Hopper ran out of the house and stood behind Weaver. "What did you need me for?"

"Her."

"Oh.." Hopper walked past Weaver and onto the steps, adjusting his glasses. "Okay. I'm going to ask a few questions."

"And if you don't cooperate, we'll shoot you on the spot." Weaver knew that firing a gun in the silence of the night would be a bad idea, but he wouldn't be opposed to it as he has killed on more than one occasion to better the safety of the people in the house and himself. "First off; no yelling. Get closer, in the light."

The woman moved closer then, her hands still in the air, as she made her way next to a small lawn light. Her frame was shaking and they could see her nod before her body fell to the ground with a soft thud. Hopper ran towards her first before Weaver followed, gun left behind on the porch as he watched Hopper turn the woman over.

"Is she wounded?" Weaver asked, darting his eyes to the trees and then back to the woman on the ground.

"No. None of this blood looks to be hers."


	2. Day 123

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 123.**

"I just think it's a ridiculous idea." Mulan interrupted, eyes searching everyone in the room around her as if trying to get them to join in. "You are our leader. Putting yourself in danger puts us all in danger."

"Why is that? I'm no different than any one of you."

"You give structure to this house. You took all of us in when you didn't have to. You had the weapons, not us."

"And? You can do just fine if I ever get infected."

"No we can't. You should stay behind."

Weaver shook his head, pressing his tongue against the roof of his mouth, trying to remember that this team of his was worth his patience. He had been cooped up in this house for far too long now. Having listened to everyone about staying inside and keeping the safe house..well...safe. But it wasn't really, was it? Safe from the infected, from anyone, with him here sitting like a duck doing nothing but twiddling his thumbs. "I am coming and that's final. August's first time out, will be under my supervision. And from now on, this is how it'll be. Emma and David, when they are ready after their session, I'll leave with the group their first time."

Mulan gave a huff and resolutely sighed. No matter how hard she tried to keep him safe, she knew he wouldn't budge. Her need to make sure he was out of harms way came from him saving her life. It almost got him killed. She lifted the sword in her hands, always the weapon of choice in her eyes, and pointed it in his direction. "I'll follow close behind." This was a wink towards the first words he had said to her, which resounded in her head the nights she kept watch over the house on the roof. He had told her if she were to die, he would follow close behind her. So she needed to hang on. Which she did. Thanks to him.

He nodded simply, then turned to face August. The man was taller than him, so he had to look up into the eyes of yet another life he felt responsible for. "If I give you instruction, you will follow. If you get bitten, spat on, swallow anything the infected try to make you swallow - you will be shot, left for dead. If you wander off away from the group and take too long to meet back at an allotted location, you will be left behind. Is this clear?"

"Yes, very clear."

"Good. Suit up." The instruction was meant for all who were leaving in the group. Which today was only four. Graham, Mulan, August and Weaver. Thought suit up wasn't really as great as it seemed. One weapon per person and a bag that held bandages and a hunting knife in a separate pocket on the outside.

Weaver's weapon of choice was a simple .45 loaded with an entire clip of ammunition. Mulan loved the feeling of cold steel in a warm hand when she wasn't keeping watch on the roof, so of course her sword. August chose an older model of a semi-automatic rifle that Weaver had stolen from a local police station. Graham stuck to a .45 like Weaver.

"Will we get to join next time?"

"Yes, you will. Keep to your chores until we get back. No venturing off." Weaver answered Emma and instructions to everyone in the room who wasn't joining them outside of that door. "We won't be gone long, we'll try and be back before nightfall. If we aren't, stay inside - Make no sounds."

Hopper entered the room, giving everyone a farewell wave before adding "If the woman wakes up, what do you want us to do?"

"Give her food. Get Blu to run her a bath. Keep her calm." The woman had been unconscious now for longer than seven hours without waking for get a drink, food or even go to the restroom. Picking her up and moving her inside, laying her down on the cot, and dabbing her face with a wet cloth hadn't even jarred her from the state she had succumbed to before they could get any answers from her. But thankfully she didn't seem to have any blood or such in her mouth, meaning she wasn't forced into the infected state from that way of infection.

"Okay, got it."

"Good."

And with that the group exited the farm house, descended the stairs and headed down the dirt road. The sun had only been up for two hours, so they had plenty of daylight ahead of them. Which they needed since town was at least a thirty minute walk to and then another thirty minute walk back.

The group fell into one of their common hushed silences as they walked behind him. His eyes darting to the trees and beyond every few minutes as he made his way down the dirt road. Keeping out of the conversation, he allowed his mind to zone out as he began going through his check list in his head. Noises they weren't making, the view ahead, the view to either side of him and then onto what he wanted to get out of this venture. He knew where they were on their progress of the town down the road. Having marked each building with a red ribbon and put an x through it on his drawn map that he kept close on him.

His mind having kept him so busy he scarcely noticed the stop sign before he bumped into it face first. The look on his face causing a hushed set of laughter behind him, being a good sport he chuckled as softly as possible before pushing past the buildings marked with red ribbons, granted it wasn't many, before he rounded on a diner. Pointing across the street to a bed bath and beyond building, he gestured to Graham and August. "You two grab any fabrics we could be in need of. Towels, cloths, sheets. Nothing too heavy. No appliances or anything like that." They nodded and ventured hesitantly across the street.

Mulan glanced over at him before taking a ribbon from her bag and tying it around the diner's sign out front. "Ready?"

He nodded in return and squared his shoulders before bringing his gun up in the direction of the door. He took out a flash light front his jean pocket and placed it police style above his pistol.

**.

The thing with venturing outside of the farmhouse is the rush of adrenaline that courses through the veins when you're standing outside of a building. Said building is dark on the inside, usually, unless the lights haven't been cut. The problem with entering is the fear of finding a nest of infected on the inside. All guttural growls and sneers more animalistic than human. People like Weaver both relished in the rush and dreaded the confrontation. Though he had noticed a slight blood lust having built since this entire theatrical new life began.

Weaver felt his stomach churn as the door opened and an ungodly smell hit him smack dab in the face . "What the-" His gag reflex cut him off before he could finish his sentence. Mulan however had taken to moving forward without him. She took out one of the cloths in her bag and placed it over her mouth as well as her nose, Weaver did the same with a cloth from his own bag. Silently he praised Mulan for her stomach of steal as they moved past bodies that couldn't even be considered remains.

Skin had been pulled in directions it should never be pulled, revealing broken ribs mixed with organs that had been ripped apart, flesh gnawed at from the infected that had clearly wanted nothing more than to tear each human being in here limb from limb. "Are you kidding me?" Mulan spoke up, having checked as many bodies that weren't fully rotted away. "No infected but fuck. There's an entire intestine or two hanging from the lights over there."

He glanced in the direction from which she pointed. It was true. However, most of it had been ripped to shreds. Hanging there like a mocking ribbon of the infected's own to mark their maps with where they have been and not. "Fuck me." He choked out, the smell settled in his stomach like a one hundred pound weight. He was sure he would rather skip their meal this evening after this.

Stepping over more than a few unknown bloody human parts that seemingly had no shape whatsoever anymore, he followed her into the back of the diner. It was a mess, most things that seemed to have been knocked around in the rush for some inhabitants to run out the back. He lowered his weapon, flicking on the light. To his surprise it cast an eerily cold glow over everything in the room. He glanced around, trying to see exactly what they would need. Some condiments would be nice, so he grabbed a few of those along with the few canned goods they had that wasn't already opened. Then one of the medium sized steel pots that he could fit into his bag.

##.

"Weaver." Mulan called back to him from across the room.

He ducked behind the large shelves, through one of the side door frames and into where she was. She was standing in front of a large walk in freezer with a bloodied hand print smeared along the cold metallic door to the ice box. Weaver nodded, taking the handle in his grasp as she raised her sword. There was no little window to glance through - making it hard to gauge exactly how much danger they were in. But the lack of snarls or odd noises on the other side settled his nerves and, although he would deny it, sent a little shred of disappointment through his frame.

"I want a burger, if I'm being completely honest here."

He shot her a look of complete astonishment, having seen what they had in the front room and her appetite still being in tact. Turning the handle, he pulled the door open and leaped back, clutching his pistol as his side collided with the door to keep it open. His eyes were on a completely frozen couple. Ice clinging to their eyelashes, eyes hazy with frost, hair as stiff as a frozen steak. Blue skin as eerie as ever. They had used the freezer as a way of keeping away from the infected, or so it seemed, and it didn't have a handle on the inside to get out. "Damn." His arm fell slack at his sides, free hand running along his face. Mulan gave him a pat on the arm before she hurried to glance around at the contents inside.

Weaver stood there, holding the door open as Mulan grabbed as much frozen items as she could carry in one bag, ice on the bottom and the top in an attempt to keep it cold on their way back. Once they had cleared the entire building, they headed outside. Sweat prickling at his temples, his stomach finally settling as he took in August and Graham sitting on the side of the road with some sort of candy in hand.

"They have a ton of shit. We didn't mark it with the red ribbon, went with white so we can come back again. That shit is crazy." Graham guffawed, chewing off a large bite from a twizzler.

"You act like you've never been in one before." Mulan said while taking one of the twizzlers from Graham's grasp.

"I haven't! Small town guy here. I mean really fucking small."

"Okay, that's surprising." She nudged him, all three now walking along behind Weaver who had started back in the direction from which they came.

The entire thing seemed to them to have taken much shorter than it truly had. However, Weaver could guess that Graham and August had probably only went through the very front of the store before leaving and taking a seat outside. Which in his opinion would have been better than the two of them not being outside when they had completed looking through the diner. Going in there to search for the two of them could have taken hours. The store was a bit oversized for this little town.

Returning to the farm house took more out of them than they had bargained for. Weaver's legs were aching, head pounding and mouth as dry as it would be in a desert. He could only guess how his other three partners in crime were feeling. The safe house looked exactly as it had when they left earlier, nothing out of place - nothing blood soaked. It felt like a beacon to him, a light that could be seen as safe. Like they were boats heading ashore during the night. Only it was day and he thanked his lucky stars that the venture hadn't taken longer.

"Welcome back!" Blu hurled herself out of the house and into Graham's arms. "So happy you're all in one piece."

Graham just gave her a chuckle, before handing her one of his twizzlers. Blu looked at it as if she hadn't seen anything that beautiful in her entire life. And at this very moment, Weaver was sure she hadn't seen anything that beautiful in a long time. The infection spreading had robbed each and every one of them the little happiness that something as simple as candy brought them.

"Where's Ruby?" Mulan shot in Blu's direction. Noting that the long haired brunette hadn't come out of the house per usual to greet her.

"She went to the farm."

"By herself?"

"No, Emma and David went with her."

Weaver spun on the spot, closing the distance between himself and the one who had just spilled the details of where three people had went without his say-so. "Say that again?"

"Yeah, they left once you guys did."

"Did they? Huh." His tongue ran along his teeth, eyes glaring in the distance of which the farm was. Three shapes coming along the road, in his view. This would not do. Not under his roof. Not when they could have all died or put the safe house in jeopardy. He would allow them their victory for tonight since they all seemed to be carrying large sacks of foods, but tomorrow he wouldn't be so lenient. He just needed to decide what chore they would be stuck with for disobeying him and going out when they weren't scheduled to. Now the farm raiding later this week would need to be pushed to next week.

"Tell them to put everything away. Hopper is making dinner tonight - then. Since they disobeyed me."

Naturally it had been David's turn to make dinner, but now everything would need to be shifted in his notebook. The planning he had done ahead all fucked up, thanks to one little slip-up. Which he hoped would be their last. For now, he would put away his bag of stolen goods and check on that brunette who he guessed wasn't awake or they all would have stayed home to gawk at the stranger.


	3. Day 124

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 124 - Day.**

Another early morning, though Weaver couldn't tell with the boarded up windows in the main room. He pinned the schedule to the wall above the mantle, his eyes raking over the quick work he had made of the list, small little hints to him to record things down that would not be noticed by the others. That was his specialty, keeping everything in his notebooks all well sorted out so his world wouldn't boil down around him.

The sound of footsteps echoed as everyone within the house slowly began their day. He moved to sit back against a couch that had been pushed toward the wall, watching as Mulan came up to the schedule, turned and gave him a nod. Knowing exactly what her task was for the day. Followed by Archie who gave a laugh. Having dealt with as much as he had lately with the new girl, still not awake, the scribble next to his name of 'take a breath for a fucking second'. He moved to allow everyone else their rightful read of what they were to occupy themselves with.

Emma and David were last downstairs, as they rounded towards the list, Weaver pushed himself up onto his feet. Having kept himself patient for this very moment. He barely slept just thinking about it. "Bathroom cleaning." He pointed in the direction of Emma. "Water pump duty." He pointed towards David. Then placed his hands on his hips as they turned their attention towards him, away from the schedule. "Your training will be split into one hour intervals for the rest of the week. Mulan will train David and Graham will train Emma. You'll only have an hour though since the work you have to do will be tiresome. So you'll be able to..go venturing..next week. If you stay on good behavior." They huffed before he added "Unless-" Then he shot a glance at Ruby before bringing his eyes back to the brother and sister who had fucked everything up in one night. "...you want to leave. Without anything but what you arrived with."

"O-of course not!" Emma all but yelled in his direction, her arm nudging David painfully in the ribs. "We're very sorry, it won't happen again."

"Yeah. It won't." David's words were far from sincere which sent Weaver's blood from rising to boiling within seconds.

"Say that again."

"It won't happen again." David repeated followed by a hushed Emma; "We're sorry."

"You better be. Now go. Now!" They both scampered off to start their day as he turned his heels and rounded on Ruby. Knowing if Mulan shifting in the corner before August put a hand out to keep her from going towards Weaver and Ruby.

"You." He growled, his voice lower now. "You have been here long enough to know right and wrong. I _instructed_ you to train with Emma until we returned in the light of Graham's absence. Did I not?" It wasn't really a question he cared for her to answer. He knew he had. Having went over that very instruction the night before. "And you went behind my back, disobeyed my orders, and put the entirety of this house in jeopardy."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't. I won't hear it. You have the worst task of all, Ruby. You'll be in your room all day and night today. Thinking. Which is the worst thing any of us can do. Stand idle."

"Please-I'll-"

"Now!"

Ruby ran up the stairs, bounding for her room where she would stay for the remainder of the day.

Satisfied, Weaver turned to face the others. "If anyone goes into her room before the sun sets, you'll find yourself dealing with the same task for the week to come. Got it?" He watched as the room nervously nodded in agreement. "If anyone doesn't like the way I run my house. You can leave. Without any help from me." He grumbled as he set off to do his task. Which would be checking the river behind the house for any contamination as well as clear the windmill building, just to make sure to keep the infected from skirting too close to their water resources. This way, he wouldn't have to look anyone in the eyes as he went about his sole task and others busied themselves with their own.

* * *

**After Outbreak: Day 124 - Night.**

The _sun soared high in the sky, blindingly. Heat pricked at his skin as he watched Milah move slowly through the garden, tending to a variety of flowers in his favorite sundress of hers. She was a beauty, even if they had been having more arguments than not lately. His love for her felt as pure as a winter's second snowfall. But he often questioned hers for him. Milah was a hard woman to please in his eyes but he tried to please her the best he could. She wanted more out of life than he could give her. Or maybe he had become so used to making up excuses as to why it wasn't the time to move forward. If they had a kid, it would complicate things._

_He shook his head out of his ass-awful thoughts and took note of this moment. Here and now as she bent to take in the scent of the flowers, plucking a couple here and a couple there. She would make an arrangement for their table. Not the best arrangement albeit but something he was sure he would love. He felt his face get wet, one drop then three. Before..._

"The fuck are you doing?" He hissed in the direction from which the water came splashing down onto him. August stood there in the middle of the bathroom with a bucket in hand, an apologetic look on his face.

"You fell asleep. It's my turn for a bath."

"Seriously?" He looked down into the water that had become foggy during his time in it. Soap usually doing that along with the muck he seemed to collect on himself during the week in which he hadn't been allowed the comfort of being clean.

"You've been in here for two hours, man. I need it."

"Right. Just wait outside." He motioned for August to leave, once he had Weaver pushed himself out of the water and pulled the plug in the drain free. He had fallen asleep, again, in the bathtub. This had become a regular thing as of late. The water giving him reassurances of a comfortable life he no longer had the luxury to enjoy. _Fight or Flight._ He thought, realizing he had been in that mode for far too long now. It took no less than a minute for him to dry off.

Once dressed, shirt and all, he headed out of the bathroom. "It's all yours." He shot in August's direction before descending the stairs, crossing the main room and dipping behind the tarp where Archie sat beside of the unknown woman. She had been out for too long. No water, no food and this was beginning to cause unneeded anxiety in Weaver. She would surely die like this. "Any success?" He was referring to the ways in which the doctor had tried to wake the woman, surely there was some technique he could use.

"No, nothing but her heart rate picked up about an hour ago and the movement in the eyes... not exactly REM... but.."

"So there's hope?"

"Possibly."

"Good. I'll have Mulan bring up whatever she concocted tonight for dinner. Just in case." He turned to leave before glancing back over his shoulder. "And I'll stay with her once I get back. Give you time to eat and rest."

"Thank you, Weaver. I'd appreciate that."

He nodded in his direction before heading back into the main room, then ducking into the now unusable kitchen before descending the stairs into the basement. Most of the house had gathered around the table. Mulan was next to the stove top, stirring what was left of the concoction. Having already eaten her ration. The others were mostly talking, discussing the days work and memories they had from a time before the infection spread.

"Finally you're here. You missed the entire thing." Mulan said, giving him a nudge in the ribs.

"I need two bowls. And tell me it's better than what I cooked the other night."

"Beyond better, trust me." Mulan poured rations into two bowls, adding a bit more than normal to the one meant for their unnamed guest.

"Thank you."

"I'll stick some of this into a container and store it under the cool tub of water to keep it fresh for a bit longer."

"Good thinking. And who's watching the roof right now?"

"Graham. But once I'm done in here, I'll take over."

He nodded before heading back upstairs, through the main room and behind the tarp. "Go eat, Archie."

The doctor gave him a smile before he stood. "You too." He pointed at the bowls in Weaver's hands before heading off to join the other downstairs. Taking the doctor's seat, Weaver sat the bowl for the unnamed guest next to the solar powered lamp, hoping the heat from it would somehow keep her ration warm until she woke up and thought she could eat. He thrust his spoon into the mess of whatever it was Mulan served up as food, then took the spoonful into his mouth. It could have been worse; he thought. The flavor having a nice array of mixed vegetables. Canned vegetables, that is. Having had nothing but a protein bar in the afternoon, the meal received a loud grumble from his stomach in appreciation. He waited patiently beside where the woman lay as he gulped down what was in his bowl. His eyes washing over her frame, taking in the condition of her filthy skin and hair. It looked as though she had been through the ringer more than a few times. Currently the state of the world wasn't a spa day for the frame, he knew that much. The smell alone though almost turned his stomach. Her clothes, which they had left in tact on her body, were covered in dried blood. In all honesty, he would have preferred wash her down but that wouldn't have been appropriate.

A low groan jerked him out of his thoughts, his eyes going to search her face as her featured contorted into confusion before his eyes were meeting hers. Dark chocolate and afraid. He held up his hand, allowing his spoon to plop down into whatever was left in his bowl on his lap. "Easy, easy." He used a soothing tone in which he only brought into his voice during the most needed times. "There's food..." He pointed towards the one meant for her nearest the cot, sitting beneath the solar powered lamp.

She felt more than confused. Having remembered making it to the safety of the house just to have guns pointed at her face and then nothing. She couldn't remember a single thing afterwards. The world had gone dark and somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, she would have liked it to have stayed that way. Her body alive, but her mind checking out for a little while. "Who are you?" Her voice came out in a rasp, her throat dry.

"Weaver. This is our safe house." He gestured around himself. Which in all honesty, the room wasn't much to showcase the depth in which they had come in means of survival. He grimaced. "Who are you?"

Slowly, she pushed herself up onto an elbow as she reached over to grab the bowl which sloshed at the unsteadiness of her hands. Weaver darted forward, grabbing the bowl and settling it nearest her on the cot. Then took his spot back where he had been before. Waiting for her answer. Which had been stalled due to her currently spooning nourishment into her mouth. "Miller. Roni. d'you have a first name?

"John."

"Nice to meet you John." She gave a quick smile in his direction before she devoured whatever he had given her in the bowl. "Can I get a shower or something?"

Jumping to his feet, he collected their bowls and spoons then nodded. "Once August is out, yes. Of course you can take a bath."

"Thank you."

"What happened to you?"

"I'd rather discuss that some other time."

"Okay." He would have rather it have been now, but she really did need to get clean. The smell alone was revolting. "Upstairs, the only closed door. Once it opens, go on in and pour water from the jugs into the tub."

"Thank you."

"Do you need help?"

"I think I know how to wash behind my ears."

"I meant up the stairs. You're probably weak."

"Oh, right. No. I'll be fine."

"Archie!" He called out, standing at the entrance to the room. He watched as the woman pushed herself slowly off of her cot, her body waving just slightly as she regained her balance.

The doctor glanced behind the tarp, eyes wide. "She's awake."

"Yes, once you clear her, she can take a bath. Help her up the stairs too, if you don't mind. Then you can retire for the night."

Archie nodded before heading into the room as Weaver made his exit. He brought the bowls downstairs where Emma stood, washing the dishes from the night. He placed the bowls with the rest she were to clean before heading to bed, leaving without another word in her direction. He climbed the stairs then and made his way into his room where he took one of his tablets in hand as he laid back against the bed. His eyes were heavy, begging him to give into sleep but he fought it with every ounce of strength he had in him as he took the pencil from behind his ear and began to jot down the processes of the day. Checking off the chores that had been done and drawing a graph of their food intake and water use; having to remove extra knowing that Roni would be joining in the list of people who have bathed today. He made a mental note to give David another few jugs to fill tomorrow at the water pump.

Dipping his fingers between the pages, he pulled out his hand drawn map of the town. Most of it having been sketched out from memory of the time before the outbreak. He placed a question mark beside of the building he intended on the group scouting next and a check beside of the bed bath and beyond Graham had all but insisted this morning they go further into.

Once done, he tucked it back into the pages and started on the schedule for tomorrow.

Across the room, at his closed door, a soft knock sounded. Jolting him from his work. He placed the tablet against his chest; "Come in."

A soaked brunette walked through his door. Towel wrapped tightly along her frame, water dripping from her dark waves. "They said you would have clothes?"

"Right. The cider wardrobe." He pointed in the direction as he watched her walk towards it. The light dancing off of her soaked skin as she began rifling through the items to find something to fit her. He had taken to stealing clothing not too long after the first person arrived at his doorsteps. Every bit of fabric in storage having been cleaned thoroughly for fear of the virus being airborne. That had been before Archie arrived with his very helpful facts. She had turned, his eyes falling on her chest as they had been at that exact spot on her back. Quickly, he snapped them up to her face and gave her a quick nod before pulling his attention back to his tablet. Chastising himself for not doing that sooner.

"Goodnight."

"You're still sleeping on your cot downstairs. At least until tomorrow."

"Got it. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

She left then, closing the door behind her as she did so. The task for tomorrow would be getting her to tell him exactly what had gotten her in the state she arrived in. He needed those facts, for his records, and for his curious mind.


	4. Day 125

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 125**

As the others in the house began to rise and start their day, Weaver took in the entire mood that fell upon them today. It seemed as if nothing had happened. No one had ever disobeyed orders and he had never needed to raise his voice. Jokes were made, nudges were given and smiles even formed on the lips of many under this aging roof. That alone made the tension in his muscles loosen. They were humans after all, regardless of his need for self-preservation. He half expected them all to murder him in his sleep every time he had to put his foot down, but every one of them continued to surprise him.

He made his way outside where he had laid out every weapon that wasn't being carried and began cleaning them as properly as possible. August and Graham were stalking around, weapons braced against their shoulders as they surveyed the area to make sure none of the infected had breached their perimeter.

A loud thud, then giggles emitted through the air as Mulan and Ruby bounded their way out of the house, down the steps and up to where Weaver had been at work. First Mulan fell to the ground beside him, head closer to the tree at his back, Ruby followed suit her body clambering to the ground with.a soft thud, scooting just slightly so that her hip would touch her partners. "Ruby used her time wisely and thought up some ideas."

"Is that so?" Weaver asked, running what used to be a white cloth along the length of one of the daggers. The sun glistened off of the reflective surface as he scrubbed away the rust, dirt and anything else that had accumulated on the blade when they went out to gather supplies.

"Yes." This time it was Ruby's voice, a large smile plastered on her lips as she took Mulan's hand in hers. "The best thing for productivity is morale. Right?"

"You could say that." This caught Weaver's attention, eyes now on the brunette laying next to Mulan. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well, first the taking turns cooking thing is always fun because we get to poke at those who suck at cooking or just revel in the ones who are good. BUT..." She took in a deep, shuttering, breath as she gave Mulan's hand a squeeze. "What if we had a game day. Or like an off day. One where we finish our chores very early so it's still daylight and we can get some time in to just relax a little. And for better work..."

"...we could make it so that if we've had a great week of productivity..." Mulan continued her partner's sentence before allowing Ruby to finish it.

"...then the time we have to relax is longer. But we'll all have weapons or have one person for lookout during the time."

"Two people." Weaver added. "I like the idea, it's a great one and I'll give it some thought."

Ruby practically squealed as she leaned in, over Mulan who was laying on the grass nearest Weaver, and wrapped him up in an appreciative hug before jumping to her feet. She helped the other woman to her feet, then added; "I have chores to do. Mulan and I are going ahead and scoping out the windmill today." It had been on the board for someone to help Mulan, he knew it would have been Ruby, which is why he set her chore list to be something easy. Taking out the rugs and giving them a good dusting. Which he suspected she would do once back. The task of that had been placed upon Archie last week, which they came to realize resulted in a large sneezing fit due to his many allergies Weaver had been unaware of.

"Good." He answered, before handing Mulan her sword and Ruby her favorite pistol that resembled something from an era much unlike the one she was born in. He watched as the girls strode off, talking without averting their eyes from the tree line. They were in love, that much he had caught onto. And he wouldn't crush that kind of reassurance that either of them had clung onto for the world itself.

Tearing his gaze from them as they were slowly going out of focus, he brought his attention back to the weaponry sprawled along the grass. Placing the blade he had in his hand into a separate area, just four inches or so from the others as if claiming that would be the clean pile.

"Archie said you would show me around." Roni's voice cut through his silence.

"I will once I'm done here." This had been scheduled as well. He had insisted Archie inform her of a tour from him once she was awake. Which to his luck she had slept in giving him just enough time to pin up the schedule and get out here, in the midst of something important so he could hopefully get her to loosen up enough. Emma and David had told him their story the second he rounded the corner to the safe houses' version of an infirmary on their first night. Before they were even cleared. But Roni. She hadn't. First off, she had been in what seemed to either be a shut down mode of the brain trying to protect her or a collapse in sheer exhaustion and malnutrition. He wasn't an expert, so he wouldn't try to guess.

"I can help?"

"Sure." He handed her a piece of cloth and gestured at their only options of what they could use to clean the weapons before them.

Roni took a seat beside him under the shade of the tree and began cleaning sharp objects, knives and daggers. The occasional sword or two. "I kind of expected a clever or hatchet to be in this stuff."

"Why is that?" He hadn't removed his gaze from the gun barrel in his hands, focusing intently on making sure nothing could go awry with it due to lack of proper care.

"Not sure, maybe the variety of series or films that I've seen. They always seem to have a hatchet or something like that in their armory."

He nodded almost unnoticeable. "It would be a wise choice."

"That and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire."

He chuckled then, the idea of barbed wire getting snagged in skin causing him to shake his head. That would indeed be a bitch to clean but the feeling beneath his hands at the weight being pushed forth, catching on those infected- "Good too."

"So are you some sort of cult leader here?"

"Cult?"

"All of these people in one house. Was it a cult before the...whatever it was that happened to the world."

"First off, no. This was my home. Secondly, the world isn't in turmoil."

"It's not?"

"No, it's not."

"So is it just here then?"

"Currently Britain, Ireland, the likes."

"I'm guessing if I would have stayed in America, then I wouldn't be stuck in this nightmare..."

He glanced over at her, the expression on her face had formed into that of regret. Knowing the answer wasn't what she wanted to hear, he said it anyway. Agreeing with her statement. "Yes. Probably."

Shifting uncomfortably, she turned her gaze to the people who were strangers to her going about their daily business. Two of which kept circling the house and walking along the land it was sitting one. "Your doctor said I wasn't infected. How does he know the difference? Apart from me not lashing out and trying to kill everyone."

"He studied them for a time. Well, one of them. He had been with a group of people, like him, who were interested in what had taken the country by surprise. He knows the tale-tell signs of people who have been slowly infected as well as the rapidly infection. It takes a day for the body to start the process."

"And what process is that?"

"Dying. It's apparently-" His voice cut off as he swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, he could feel his hand begin to shake. "- a long and painful death that doesn't end you in the literal sense, but instead starves you and creates an anger like nothing before." He had repeated, in his own words, what Archie had told him during the first few days inhabiting this safe house.

"And being out for days isn't one of those?"

"No. The body can't shut down during the process, not like that, at least as far as we know."

"That's good then."

"It is."

They sat in silence then, slowly cleaning the weaponry as the sound of wind swept through the trees. Summer had begun slowly slipping from their grasp, closing in on fall. And he dreaded it. Winter would be a difficult time. Worse than the heat the summer had brought, which really hadn't been all that bad. Pulling his mind from the weather, he thought on the proposal that Ruby had given him. The idea of a day of relaxation sounded promising and it was obvious that they all would benefit from it. Maybe he could make it so that the day couldn't be very loud and would not include food of any kind...

His mind wandered onto the wonderful nights he had with Milah. Friends coming over for drinks, food and fun. But this one day wouldn't be anything like that. It would need to be safe within the current rules of the house. And maybe that would end up more boring than anything, but morale needed a boost and this idea was as good as any. Filing it away, he brought out his notepad and took the pencil from his ear. He wrote down the idea and put an exclamation point beside of it to make sure he would plan it out thoroughly before he proceeded to agree to it. Shifting on the ground, he placed the notepad into his back pocket and the pencil back where it belonged behind his ear.

"What did you survive on?" The question came out abruptly and almost too sharp, he realized.

"Excuse me?"

"When you were out there." He tilted his head towards the clearing she had come from. "What did you eat?"

"Grass. Anything that I could find that was remotely edible."

"And water?"

"Creeks. But when I had been in the city, I used the outside hoses."

"Hmm."

"What is happening to people?"

"The infection? It's something that is carried through a host. It's like a virus that corrupts the body, the organs, all of it." Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and added "Archie is better at explaining this"

"Could I have gotten infected from all of the blood on me?"

He shook his head. "Not unless you got any in your mouth. Did you?"

"No."

"Why did you have all of that blood on you?" He asked, appreciative that she had brought it up.

"I hid under bodies."

"Under bodies?"

"It was the only way to hide. So yes. I hid. Under the bodies of anyone who wasn't rising back up."

"And when there was no one to hide under?"

"I would run. Run and not stop until I couldn't hear them anymore."

He noted her voice beginning to shake, so he opted to change the subject. At least he knew why she had been covered in blood and smelled as bad as she did. "Currently we have only so much space in the house. You'll bunk with Mulan. She currently has the attic because she keeps watch at night most days."

"When does she sleep?"

"Usually when someone takes the next shift."

"And last night?"

"I watched the sun rise."

"Is it always this...planned?"

"Yes. Always. We should really be making more progress at cleaning these than we are." He stated, taking note of exactly how much he had fallen behind. Knowing the exact amount of time it took to clean these, he glanced at his watch, it would take double the time at this rate and he didn't need that.

They went back to silence as they cleaned, able to get through more items than originally when they had been talking. Finally on the last one, Roni stood and headed in the direction of the house as David made his way towards Weaver. With a determined glare on his face. "Has it not been four days?"

"Excuse me?" He glanced up at him, squinting in the sunlight reflecting past his shoulder.

"The search party for survivors. Every four days."

"We've already done that. Venturing, is also searching."

"But we-"

"You can come along on next weeks."

David huffed slightly then headed back towards the water pump, giving August a look that Weaver couldn't see due to the view he had of David's back. But August shot the man a glance before shrugging. _At least they get along_. He thought, which he couldn't say the same about Graham and the blonde's brother.

Once he had everything tucked away where it belonged, he found Roni who had been sitting idly outside on the porch, elbows on her knees watching the people she would soon come to know like he did. "House tour." His voice caused her to jolt, head full of curls tilting to get a better look at who the voice came from.

"Sounds good." She stood then, hand flitting to the rails to steady herself before following Weaver inside.

"Main room. You've met everyone this morning, I'd say. Names and all?"

"Yes. They gave me a few hellos and waves and such. Names too."

"Infirmary, type thing." He pointed to the place behind the tarp. "Unused kitchen."

"Why?"

"Anything that gives off a smell, goes down in the basement. Same with our water and all foods. Underground keeps it cooler, which means it lowers the spoil rate."

"Good idea."

"Yeah. Okay..." He pointed at the basement door before he turned and headed back into the main room, then up the stairs with Roni in tow. "We have the armory, among other things.." Nodding towards his room, which she knew of already. "The bathroom, you've seen it. Sleeping situation one with Blu, Emma, and Ruby. Sleeping situation two with Archie and David. Sleeping situation three with Graham and August." He opened a door, halted and tapped at the bottom of the stairs twice just as a precaution even if he knew Ruby and Mulan were currently off performing their task for the day. When nothing sounded back, he ascended the stairs. "This will be your sleeping quarters with Mulan. I've had a mattress brought up here already. Yours is made up, as you can tell." Sighing, he took to straightening out Mulan's sheets before he turned to Roni. "Okay?"

"Great."

"How are you feeling?"

"A little overwhelmed. How do we know we're safe here?"

"We aren't safe anywhere. But this is better than out there."

"Are there anymore rules?" Roni appreciated the honesty he shared even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear. After what she had went through the last thing she needed was to know that no matter where she went, she would never be safe for as long as the outbreak continued.

"No fighting, wandering off, slacking on your chores, eating more than is given or offered. No stealing, abuse of any kind on any member in the household, disrespect, murder..." He thought for a moment. "I mean show human decency. You know. No doing shit everyone should know not to do. No being loud at night. No food outside. Baths are scheduled for purposes of keeping up with our water usage."

"And do you control how much air everyone breaths too?"

He almost would have thought she were being a smartass if a glint of a smirk hadn't formed on her lips. In response, a chuckle moved from his chest up, but he kept his lips pursed to stifle the noise. "Uh. We have a full rule list downstairs near where the schedule is posted. So read through it. Other than the rules, do whatever. I'm not anyone's warden. I'm easy going until you jeopardize the team."

"Good to know."

"I'll leave you to whatever for the day. If you are feeling up to it, I'll add your name to the schedule tomorrow."

"Yes. Please."

He nodded and left the room set on checking in with everyone's chores before moving onto his next task.


	5. Day 126

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 126.**

Weaver made his way up the creaking staircase, hands flipping through the worn pages of his notepad, pencil tapping against his thigh. The problem he couldn't figure out was who he had scheduled for dishes today. He knew he had it written down this morning, or was it last night? The hours were starting to mix together like muddy rain water and he wanted nothing more than to blast it away. "Damn it." He muttered coming up to the door of his room and tossing the notepad into it onto the bed. He would wash the dishes then. His error so he would fix it.

"Something wrong?" the voice of Roni called out to him from where she was leaning against the wall in the hallway.

"Have you finished your chores?" He asked, coming to stand beside her.

"Yes."

"Nothing's wrong." He finally answered her, seeing as she had been quick replying to his question.

"Mulan and Ruby have our room." She nodded in the direction of the attic door as if he had needed further explanation as to why she wasn't doing anything useful. Though not being able to get into their room really had nothing to do with that.

"Okay." Nodding, he turned on his heel heading towards the stairs. Roni followed suit, descending the stairs behind him and following on through the main room, through the basement door and down where they washed the dishes at a not so pretty sink.

"What are you doing down here?"

"Washing the dishes." The last thing Weaver would do is admit to the fact that he had forgotten a chore. That slight on his part could cause questions as to his role in the household or even his records, which he would state the error tonight once everything was done. Because admitting it to himself on his papers would be easier than to anyone else around him.

"Can I dry?"

He nodded, knowing her chores were finished he could indeed use the extra hands. It would help move this along. Turning the knob since it were daylight and the sound of water through the pipes could be overlooked by the infected, he grabbed a cloth and got to work. The only sound in the room being the running water, the movement of bowls clanging with one another and the hum of Blu flowing hushed from the floor above. Blu tended to hum when she worked inside of the house during the day, the only sound that seemed to help sooth the inhabitants of the safe house.

"So why the bad food? I mean, couldn't we just all open a can of beans or something and eat that?"

"It would be an option." Weaver glanced up at her as she ran the cloth in her hands in a circular motion along the soaking wet bowl, the moisture slowly drying. "If the good things weren't already taken when we sweep the stores. Or we didn't use our fruits to fuel us in the morning."

"Oh, right. I hadn't thought of that." She had begun placing the dried bowls onto the shelf next to the sink in a neat stack.

"We also cook it a little longer than it should. Everything is brought to a boil. Just in case."

"Isn't it already boiled though before it's canned?"

"Yes. But it makes it worth the effort, just to make sure."

"And the fruits? Do we always boil them too?"

"Yes."

"And that's why it looks more like baby food than a nice yogurt or something more appetizing." She was referring to the bowl of colorful substance they had during midday. Her words more of a statement than a question.

"Pretty much." The sink was empty now. He pulled the plug, allowing it to drain down into the pipes before grabbing another dry cloth to wipe his hands with. He glanced in her direction as she finished off the last dish, stacking it neatly with the others before taking the dry cloth he held in his hand to dry her own.

"Well, I mean, at least we're getting something."

"Any ideas on what you'll make tonight for dinner?"

"Who usually makes the breakfast?" She opted for a question, avoiding answering his question seeing as she had no idea what to cook tonight or what options she even had.

"Blu. Always."

"Why her?"

Weaver shifted uncomfortably for a second before adding "The farm down the road is hers."

"So her food, she boils?"

"No. She knew how to boil the fruits." He began to make his way back up the stairs and into the main room where David was currently getting his ass kicked by Graham. Not nearly complete with his training.

"She had a baby..."

"And a husband." He answered before making sure Blu wasn't in the room. The last thing he intended on doing was making her sad today after the superb work she had been putting into her chores. And he would be lying if he didn't refuse to bring it up around her also due to the fact of his dead wife. No one needed a reminder of those who were lost to them. Dead or alive or missing.

"They were infected?"

"No. They were separated."

"How?"

"Not every safe house is as...structured and humane as this one."

Graham looked up at the two of them then, David in a headlock spewing out curse words like venom. The chestnut haired man shooting a sorrowful expression in their direction. The thing with Graham was that the house he was in before hadn't taught him the ways of self defense like Mulan had. They only taught him how to be cruel, how to think of this dreadful situation as a playground for the devious minded. That alone got most of them killed. Weaver could at least be grateful that he gained the good one out of that group. It only two two weeks before Graham could see the situation as it truly was. Tragic. Even if that word was the one only Weaver would choose for it. Everyone else had their own to describe this situation.

David managed to break free of Graham's hold, only to be tripped in the process. "Damn it!" He called out as the two of them continued to writhe around on the floor for control in the situation.

"How come I never stumbled on any others then?" Roni finally spoke out amongst the noises emitted from the two men.

"How did you know to come here?"

"I-"

He waited, eyes set on her solem expression. Noticing how her shoulders were lower, almost as if ashamed.

"Pure luck. I saw lights from the forest and noticed there weren't any infected around."

"And yet you could have led them here."

"I had no other choice. I would have died out there if I had waited."

He nodded, filing away the reminder to add a more thorough check through the woods for tomorrow morning before they went out on their venturing quest. Quickly he gestured towards the two men on the floor. "You have the rest of the day to train. I'll grant you that. I'm going to give Emma all day tomorrow. As I said you both will join us on next weeks venturing. You've done well not complaining with the extra work."

It had been true. No matter what chores they were given, they hadn't complained at all. That much he admired. "If you get tired Graham, see if Mulan feels up to it."

"Will do!" He called out as David landed a very powerful kick to his stomach. "You're going to regret that." The second sentence was aimed at his assailent and not at the leader of the house.

Weaver turned then and headed out of the house and onto the lawn. "If you need something to do..." He thought for a moment, desperately seeking time to himself in the most selfish of ways. He needed to sit and to think. "...find Blu. See if she has anything she needs help with."

"Okay." Roni's voice was low as she moved up to where he stood. "You know. If you ever need to talk or anything..."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good." With a smile the brunette turned away from him, heading in the direction of the safe house intent on finding Blu and putting herself to good use.

The sun had already begun it's very slow descent in the afternoon sky. The heat not enough to break the chill that the clouds above pushed out along the lands. Weaver could sense a storm brewing, which usually meant that they would find watching from the roof tonight a harder task than needed. He wouldn't get a wink of sleep, his brain already working on sending the pump of adrenaline from anxiety through his veins.

Turning on the spot, he sought out August and Ruby who were walking along the lands, making sure nothing had breeches along the path of their perimeter. "Any animals?" He asked, sliding up alongside August, eyes searching the trees.

"Not anymore than usual." August replied, shuffling his feet against the ground.

"Carcasses?"

"A wolf."

"What from? Did you get any blood on you?"

"Looked like other wolves. And no. We dragged it away from us though, left it where we usually leave that stuff." Mulan let her sword dangle down by her sides.

"Good. We'll eat two hours early since it might thunder, rain and the like."

Usually every time a storm came, he would insist everyone within the safe house remained as silent as possible due to the fact that the sounds alone would startle the infected. Having seen their reactions to weather first hand, he knew that not only did it send infected into a frenzy but it also cloaked the movements of them making it harder on survivors to keep tabs on the noises they emitted.

He left them then, setting out to give everyone else the same instruction.


	6. Day 127

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to the fact of how long it took me to get this chapter out to everyone, I've made it a bit longer than usual. 
> 
> **WARNING** If you cannot read anything to do with zombie children or dead children, skip past the **. in this chapter as it really is a very sad situation, but also a bit graphic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 127.**

"Mulan! Are you coming?" Weaver called upstairs, having had the group together for the past twenty minutes he was sure she had said she wanted to join them today, even going as far as insisting. But getting her downstairs and with the group was proving difficult. "Mulan?!"

"Coming! I'm coming!" She had begun to descend the stairs with Ruby in tow behind her.

"Is Ruby tagging along?"

"No, she's staying behind to keep guard on the house."

That was when Weaver noticed the two smiling as they joined the others. Ruby beside Emma who had said she wanted to say bye to anyone going, while Mulan joined up beside August, giving him a nudge or two to hand her the sword she preferred - in response he did but not without saying something low under his breath that no one but her could hear. It made Mulan giggle though, so Weaver left their secrets to them.

"Let's not have that happen again? Yeah?"

Mulan simply nodded as she followed the group out of the door and began their journey towards town, Weaver following up at the rear this time with his eyes trained to the trees. His mind wandered off as he saw only greenery, clear of any infected as far as the eye could see. He wondered on if he had become someone he hated with the worry and protective nature he had taken since the infection broke out. Often he had imagined what it would be like if it all stopped, if some unknown savior had figured out a way to come rescue them from this horrible existence. Just imagining falling back into the every day mundane living he had been in before caused his heart to stall. The life he would have to begin would be without his wife, it had been more than a couple of months since she had -

"What do you think?"

"Huh?" Weaver pulled himself out of his thoughts at the question being hurled in his direction.

"Sending a message of peace to some other survival groups?"

"We shouldn't bring awareness to ourselves too much."

"Not _all_ groups are as bad as Graham's." Mulan sighed, having fallen back enough to be walking alongside Weaver at the same pace. "It wouldn't hurt to have allies, Weaver. We're all restless. Worried. Wondering who all has survived so far."

"I know you are." His eyes went to his feet for a second before instinct jolted them back up at their surroundings. "I-Sure. Maybe we could try a subtle one."

"Good. Thank you."

"If they kill us, it'll be on your head."

"I'll take my chances."

The rest of the way had been silent with the occasional scuffle from August and Graham ahead of the line, both needing a way to make the journey more interesting than it was. But Weaver found himself content with the repetitive nature of the act itself of venturing out, along the same road, toward the same town. "We'll do the bed bath and beyond. Then we'll go down that street." Weaver pointed in the direction of the street that went off of the commercial building that seemed scattered with white houses. "We'll do four. Two each. Then circle around where we've been before to just glance inside, make sure no one has begun squating where we've been. Then we'll head back."

"Okay. Sounds good. Usual team?" August asked, shifting his weapon from one arm to the other.

"Yes. Mulan is with me."

They headed towards the commercial building then, all with weapons raised, tension high in the air. Even if they had been inside previously - that didn't mean there wouldn't be anything within the walls now. Time had passed, a storm had rolled through, things change and they all knew that too well. Once through the doors, they noticed the lights had been cut. The small shreds of hazy sunlight pouring in through windows wasn't enough. Each of them reached to their bags and pulled out flashlights to illuminate their way through the store isles. "We'll head off to the right. You two on the left. We have an hour. Just an hour."

"Got it." Graham stated before heading off with August in the direction of which Weaver had instructed.

Mulan strode up beside of Weaver, keeping her pace as slow as his in a way to make sure they wouldn't fall out of sync. For a second he allowed himself to take note of how well she had grown into being a leader all the while having become one of the most fierce fighters he had ever seen - all on her own, he would add. "How are you holding up?" He asked, eyes trained ahead for three steps, then checking over his shoulder — repeating the same steps the further they went.

"What do you mean?"

"With everything. How are you dealing?"

She stopped then. So he followed suit, coming to a halt and turning to face her. They were standing in the middle of an isle that seemed to have housed cleaning products, most of which were already gone. "Good. I mean, as good as someone possibly can in this type of situation."

"Do you have too much on you?"

"Responsibilities?"

"Yeah."

"Not at all. I mean, I know I was late a bit today but it won't hap-"

"I don't care that you were late today. You've never been late before. It wouldn't be like you to make a habit of it."

"Okay, good." She had turned to start back, but instead brought her eyes to rest on him. "How are you holding up?" He nodded before starting back at their original task. Mulan had stalled but once she caught sight of him not wavering from his task at hand, she quickly caught back up. "I'd take it not well."

"I've begun to like it." He admitted, shamefully.

"Like it, meaning — this shit of a situation?"

He wanted to say yes, to admit to his blood lust along with his desire to be needed, to be in the midst of something that might one day go down in history books and should they make it past this to where the infected no longer exists - maybe be part of the beginning of civilization again. But instead he opted for falling silent instead and focusing on the matter at hand. The place smelled better than the restaurant in which they had been scouting last time. Especially with the bottles of spilled liquid cleaning solution. Lemon and crisp like summer. Reminding him of fresh squeezed lemonade out on recently cut grass.

The silence was enough to send chills down his spine as they made their way further into the building scoping out isle after isle. Mostly everything had been cleaned out. Clearly someone had decided to take it upon themselves to come grab everything before they could make their way back. Unless it had been like this to begin with. He had no idea seeing as he hadn't been part of the original team inside. He intended on bringing it up to August and Graham once they regrouped.

"Nothing." He sighed, defeated. He never liked returning home empty handed.

"Would be nice if we could find something. _Anything_."

"Like a burger?" He nudged her then, shooting a grin in her direction as he took in the contents scattered along the new isle before them. Towels, candy, stuff that really didn't make sense to be bunched in together. Someone had been here.

"Yes, a burger. I really could go for one."

"I know, I know."

In all honesty he really would have loved to find her one. Any type of beef that they could trust or even the vegetarian blend. That stuff actually was really nice. He had tried it on numerous occasions during his time with Milah. In fact - it would be a much better option considering the current epidemic going on in their little part of the world. "We should head back. There's nothing here."

"Maybe a bit further on there will be?"

"We really shouldn't stick around any longer." In truth, he could have grabbed the towels or the candy and stuffed them into his bag, but for some reason getting out of the building seemed like the best idea at present.

"Fair enough."

They turned and headed back the way they came. Each little item that Weaver laid his eyes on sent a jolt of anxiety down his spine even if the items had been there earlier, he hadn't been as aware. He had heard horror stories, even seen them up front in regards to the other survivalists. They were nothing to mess with but at the current sight of things having been thrown, abandoned, or switched around - it just wasn't sitting right with him.

"You said we could make contact, so I thought maybe we could paint something on the side of this building to get someone's attention."

"I've changed my mind."

"Why? It couldn't hu-"

"I said I've changed my mind." At the harsh tone of his voice, he saw her flinch just slightly beside of him and he opted for a more soothing tone with a reassuring notion. "Next time."

"Alright."

By the time they had arrived at the front, both August and Graham were sitting on the pavement like children outside. Both tracing on the ground a letter meant for any other survivors. The words spelling out _WE COME IN PEACE_ they had even set a can of fruits at the top of it. "Wash that off."

"With what?" Graham asked, looking up at Weaver as he made his way outside and over to where they sat.

"I don't care what. Just wash it off."

"Fine, fine."

Weaver left them to do as he asked while him and Mulan headed down the street in which he intended on searching. "Two houses." He reminded her before checking the clip of ammunition in his weapon out of nervous habit. The two men he left back at the building were now bounding their way towards them, both nudging each other. "Two houses." He repeated as they caught up.

Mulan and him headed for the first house on the street to the right as the two men went for the one on the left. As soon as they ascended the stairs, Weaver noticed the boarded up windows and lack of a welcome mat. It had always been the small things that slapped him right in the face with the fact of their current reality. Foolishly, he wanted to hope for survivors but the condition of the front door knocked that completely out of his head. The wood was splintered, broken through right in the middle at chest height. He checked the doorknob, but the door slid open regardless of how little of weight he put onto it. Shooting a glance in his partners' direction before lifting his weapon, he slowly made it inside.

**.

The smell itself was putrid. Breathing in the air alone had started his gag reflex, stomach turning. "Cover your mouth." He warned, grabbing out an extra scarf that they made sure to bring with them when they would be entering homes or conditions that could be this revolting. The smell alone could have given the restaurant a run for it's money, only he couldn't see the source of it where he currently stood. Keeping his eyes trained, he tucked his weapon into his bag and tied the scarf over his mouth and nose, as best as possible, before taking his weapon back in hand and turning to make sure Mulan had done the same as him. She had and was already making her way off into the kitchen, eyes squinting as if the smell burned them too. Weaver knew all too well that it didn't. It was the same thing they all had done since venturing out, preparing for the worst possible scenario. The scenes that one could stumble upon in the world these days was not for the faint of heart or for the weak of stomach.

"Nothing. Cupboards are bare.."

He listened as her voice trailed off, taking a peak through the garbage in the main room. Checking a small coat closet, it revealed children's toys scattered around dirty sleeping bags. Reaching in, he shuffled around to make sure nothing could be hiding in there in need of safety. The smell seemed slightly worse around here, so he opted for feeling along the back wall for any trap doors or the like. Turning quickly away after pulling back a hidden compartment, he retched. Stomach turning, pushing bile up his throat and out onto their nice carpets. Or at least he could imagine they had been before the outbreak.

"You okay?" Mulan asked, coming round from the kitchen to see Weaver doubled over.

Shaking his head, he removed the scarf and threw it to the ground. "The smell is coming from-" He motioned towards the hidden compartment before dry heaving at the words that had spewed from his lips. Having seen his fair share of dead bodies, he thought, had numbed himself to it. But noting could have prepared him for this, Finding a child, starved from hiding out, wrapped in the arms of what looked to have been his mother. The lifeless corpses sported sunken cheeks, pale dead skin, and eyes glazed over. The decayed bodies had been there longer than need be and he was sure that the image would linger in his nightmares for the rest of the month.

"Damn." Mulan groaned, closing the hidden compartment before pressing her back against the wall, head tilted up at the ceiling as if asking the universe why it had been so cruel. "We forget.." The sound of her voice had begun keeping his mind off of the raw feeling in his stomach, the stench that filled his nose. "...during times like these that starvation is still a problem for those without the proper tools or people to help locate food. Kids, families.."

"You've seen this before?"

"I almost lived it, remember?"

He thought back to the moment she was sitting across from him at the safe house, two days after he had saved her life, she had looked more so like a living corpse then — sunken cheeks, sharp edges, skin pulled taut over her bones. Nodding, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to will the image of her in such as state as that as well as the bodies inside of the compartment out of his head.

"We should move." She cut off any other conversation on the matter, clearly wanting to keep the past in the past — so that was what he did. He followed her up the stairs, both falling into protocol as they moved from room to room. He had found himself in what looked to be the parents' bedroom. The walls were scratched to pieces, dried blood marring them as if claws had torn through the paper. As he moved closer to get a better look around, to see if there was something he could salvage, a low gurgling emitted from beneath the bed followed by a high pitched predatory growl.

Keeping his gun barrel directed at the darkness beneath the bed, he slowly began to back away from it, putting just enough space between to give him the best possible success in actually putting a stop to what he expected was an infected. A beat, two passed as no further sound came and he almost had begun to convince himself that he had imagined it when he saw something, bloodied digits curved like claws reaching out from within the dark shadows. The hands themselves were marred, skin pulled back revealing veins and bone, fingernails no longer at the ends of each digit, and the arm in which it seemed to belong to was small, contorted as the thing beneath the bed crawled from it's hiding place like an animal on all fours, bones popping and a low hissing noise spilling from deadened lips. His chocolate hues stared right into the blood red infected irises of the child as it slowly made it's way onto both feet, hands curved still as if the bones had been brown and healed in a wrong way. It stood there for a second dressed in it's crimson stained dinosaur onesie and for once, he felt himself stall. That bloodlust having gone dormant the second his brain registered what it might have looked like when alive and the circumstances in which had probably driven the mother and child downstairs to not want to leave the boy alone.

As it squared it's shoulders and began staggering forward on unstable legs, he stumbled towards the door, closing it with a loud bang before calling out desperately. "Mulan!" The last thing he wanted to put on her was to kill this kid, but he knew he couldn't do it, not yet. "Mulan!"

She rounded out of what looked to be a bathroom, stuffing her bag full of something he couldn't even bring his mind to concentrate on as the thing inside of the bedroom had pressed against the door, banging and scratching profusely as snarls echoed back to the two on the other side. "It's a child." His voice was filled with remorse as he watched her eyes squint in his direction.

"You've never killed a-"

"No."

"Okay, just hold the door shut. How tall is he?"

Weaver pressed a finger against the height of where the child's chest would possibly be, before mouthing torso. Mulan gave a knowing look, then unsheathed her sword and drove it through the wood without giving herself time to think things through. The sound itself shook Weaver, causing is him to retch as she pulled it up and then back through. The wood having splintered at the slice from it alone, but the contents on the sword only proved to reduce Weaver onto his knees. "I'm so sorry."

"The kid was gone by the time the virus took over, you know that."

"But do we, really?"

She shook her head as she opened the bedroom door and took to using her sword on the body to make sure every nerve that sent rage to his limbs were severed. The noises of muscle being cut from limb, neck being severed from the spinal cord, caused him to choke on a sob as his stomach tried to produce bile only to realize he had nothing left to vomit up. "I'm-Outside." He tried but failed an attempt at a sentence, only having it sound like he were currently outside before he lifted himself off of floor and bounded out of the house and into the clean air outside. He loathed himself for his act of weakness, how was he supposed to lead not being able to do one simple task — kill an infected child before it could kill him or others? His hands were shaking, but luckily for him he was outside all alone without having to put on his leader facade for anyone around him — so he let them shake, let a few tears stain the heated skin on his cheeks, he then he swallowed against the reflex in his throat before balling his hands into fists and heading towards the second house.

##.

But before he could place a hand on the knob, a loud explosion vibrated the ground beneath his feet and sent him down onto his knees, covering his head in case anything flew in his direction. "Out!" He called loudly as something large flew past the porch he was currently standing on. With one glance he noticed it as siding of the commercial building they had just been inside. "Out now!" That was the last warning he would give as his vision had begun to fog from the smoke down the street and he ran to the middle of the road, pleased to find the rest of the group huddled there. His voice lowered as he choked against the smoke. "It came from the bed bath and beyond, did you see anything while in there?" He asked as they all began to head towards a forest of trees, intent on getting out of sight before the smoke could clear. Mulan was keeping her eyes on the ground, making sure to cover any tracks they were leaving in the mud. "Anything at all that could have caused that?"

"No, nothing." Graham sighed, adjusted his bag that seemed to be bursting at the seams. Their house had clear led rendered better loot than the one Mulan and him had.

"And you cleared that message from the pavement, yes?"

August stalled for a second before quickly answering as soon as he saw the look Weaver was shooting in his direction, "Of course, of course we did."

Shaking his head as her purposefully ducked out of the way of a branch that Graham had let go of, he added "If there were people there, they wouldn't have blown it up, they would have found us and killed us." Thinking out loud seemed to be his strong suit. "Unless they want to know where we are located." That caused him to halt, holding out his arms to instruct everyone else to. "We'll find a house, stay there for the night."

"There's no houses around here." Graham whined, pulling on the string of his bag, clearly wanting to go home and sleep in the comfort of the safe fortress.

"Yes, there are. It's not really a perfect ideal house, but it will do." Mulan answered as she began to saunter ahead of the group, allowing them to follow her. "Whoever's in the back, cover your tracks." Weaver began doing just that as they made their way to a stone one room hovel. It had been around for a long time, that much Weaver could tell, the place having no windows but only a hole that proved to be used as entrance. "We'll take shifts. Give them time to give up on us and go home."

"Good idea." Weaver stated, placing his bag on the ground.

"We have water and a few things in our bags." August said, putting his in the middle of the room and pulling it open.

"The others will be worried." Graham groaned as his feet shuffled against the dust and leaves on the floor.

"They will, but they'll be fine. They know what to do when this happens."


	7. Day 128

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 128.**

Rain poured from the sky without pause and Roni found herself kneeling by the front door having it cracked just slightly enough so she could get a clear view of the road that led from the house and into town. The team hadn't made it back last night resulting in zero sleep from the brunette. Tossing and turning for two hours until she relented and went to join Ruby on the roof. But seeking comfort from her wasn't an option, instead she took to trying to get Ruby's mind off of the fact that her girlfriend hadn't returned home.

Once day broke, the rain began and now as it rounded midday - tension in the house was at an all time high. Blu had begun pacing while knitting, David and Emma were huddled against a wall playing with a deck of cards with the occasional ' _see anything'_ every now and again, Ruby was outside performing her duties in checking the perimeter, even during the downfall and Roni could almost bet that she instead was somewhere having a panic attack while crying.

"See anything?" Emma asked, tossing down her hand that only resulted in David cussing under his breath at having been beat once more.

"Noth-" Roni's breath hitched in her throat as she saw shadows moving along the road, the rain and distance making it hard to tell if it were human or infected. "I see something. I just-I don't know." Blu bounded towards the crack in the door, eyes peering out into the distance where Roni had currently begun pointing. "See? I can't tell. Can you tell?"

"No, it's too dense. They need to get closer."

And so they waited, soon to be joined by David and Emma as well as Archie who had been holed up in the makeshift infirmary. The second they saw Ruby dart from beside of the house and down the way with her arms outstretched, they knew. Roni pushed herself onto her feet, threw the door open and darted down the steps out onto the pathway. Rain drenched her hair, causing the curls to stick to her cheeks as she closed the space between herself and the blobs that had slowly become more visible. Although she hadn't meant to, having not been close to the group enough to do so, she threw herself onto Weaver, arms wrapping around him tightly in a hug. She felt him go stiff, arms hesitant as they lifted before closing around her back. "We were so worried!"

"We're fine, we're fine." Having been walking for hours in the rain, he wasn't quite sure how true his words would be later on but the fact that she had shown such abandon in throwing herself at him, he felt like he needed some sort of reassuring way to make her feel better. However, the warmth of her was no escaping him in the slightest. Since the outbreak, he hasn't had even the simplest of anything this intimate or kind in nature. Someone caring about him enough to worry themselves to a point that they practically hurl their body onto you the minute they see you. Regardless of rain or weather conditions that could cause everyone to become ill.

"Right." She leaned back and swiped at a few droplets of water that had collected along his brow before removing herself completely from him, hands gripping the bag he was carrying and pulling it to rest over her own shoulder despite his protests. "We need to get you all inside and warm and dry." She called out to the group over the rain, only to find that they were the only ones left outside as everyone had already headed for the house.

"In a hurry to get dry." He commented as he nodded towards the safe house, Roni following suit.

"I'll put everything away while you head upstairs and dry yourself off."

"You really don't have to do that."

"It's no problem, really. You have probably had a rough night and need sleep also. The chores are all done. Every single one of them that was left on the 'just in case' schedule you placed on the mantle yesterday."

"I'm glad to hear it."

He went inside then, Roni following on her heels as they both went in opposite directions. She headed for the basement whilst he headed for his bedroom.

The basement was dank, humid and not at all pleasant. The one thing she had noticed was the way in which they were all being forced to live like they had hurled themselves back into an age without electricity. At least the plumbing hadn't given up on them yet. Plopping the bag down on the dining table, she began to ruffle through the contents. The truth behind what was inside shook her, he had clearly forgotten the bag only held what he left with and not anything that he had obtained on the run. She shook her head and searched for something she could bring him, settling on a peach before heading up towards his bedroom.

Her knuckles grazed the woodened door and tapped twice against it. "It's me." She called out, fingers brushing at the peach as if it were dirty, waiting patiently until the door opened — Weaver stood behind it with furrowed brows, a look of curiosity on his features. She thrust the fruit in his direction only to be met by a hand held up in protest. The offer was kind, but it hadn't been boiled or prepared properly. Roni brought the fruit to her mouth and bit into it, tearing a chunk out with her teeth. After chewing it well and swallowing, she handed it to him. "Tastes normal. Nothing at all different than eating any other peach. Also, if it's infected then I guess we'll both go down with it, huh?"

Taking the peach from her, he turned and placed it on his nightstand before sitting on the side of his bed. "You didn't come all the way up here just to give me a peach that I won't eat. What was the real reason?" He looked up at her, watching as she walked through the entryway and joined him on the bed, hand coming to rest on his knee. The warmth of her palm sent a calming sensation through his limbs, but the gaze he kept on that hand was one that said absolutely different.

"Sorry." And with that, the warmth was gone. She brought her hands to rest on her lap before clearing her throat. He looked up at her then, ignoring her apology because he felt like she really had nothing to apologize for. "Your bag. It didn't have anything in it, so I thought maybe you weren't thinking clearly. Maybe you want to talk about what happened?"

Weaver shook his head, there was no need to sharing details with her — especially about what he saw in the house which had shaken him more than he would like to admit. Instead, he opted for the one thing he would tell everyone inside of these safe house walls. "A bomb went off. In the bed bath and beyond we had left mere minutes before. I'm sure you all heard it." The expression on her face was enough to tell him that they had even if she nodded to confirm it. "..well, we're not sure what caused it. I have my suspisions and if they are correct... It would be best to keep a low profile for a little while."

"What are your suspicions?"

"One of the rogue survivor teams. I'm guessing they wanted to lure us out and home so they could come here, take whatever they wanted or kill whoever they could. That's why we spent the night away, we couldn't let them track us here."

"Do they not already know the place? I mean, Blu lived down the road."

"Blu's child and husband was taken somewhere else, not at their home."

"I can't even imagine that."

"It's rough, it is.. to imagine - I mean."

The room fell silent then; causing the air around them to feel heavy. Roni thought about how much that had to have shaken everyone involved. Something as loud as a bomb after days of not hearing anything louder than a thunderstorm. She even imagined what must have went through their minds the second they realized if they had stayed in there longer what could have happened. Weaver's thoughts were plagued with that child, the house it was in, what was left of his family. When Roni spoke, her voice was shaking. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad you're safe."

The word 'safe' no longer held the same value seeing as no matter where they hid, they would never be that. Still, she had said it and meant it — and the fact that she had caused a smile to form on his lips. "Thank you. 'M Glad the house didn't burn down while we were absent."

She laughed, her head falling forward - curls bouncing against her cheek. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard or at least heard in a while. For some reason he wanted to make her laugh again, but he pushed the urge away for fear of saying something that would do the exact opposite to her. If her laughter was beautiful, he feared the day he heard her cry. With the world in it's current state, that probably wouldn't be much longer — then again she had survived days on her own hiding beneath half eaten bodies.

"I-I should go and let you get some sleep." Roni pushed herself up onto her feet and gave a smile in his direction before she turned and headed out of the door, closing it behind her.

Weaver gripped the peach and bit into it, savoring the juices that coated his tongue. He would sleep tonight, he was sure of it. But not before he could log everything into his notebook and settle out the schedule for tomorrow. He would surprise them all with his announcement of spending the day leisurely. After such an outing as the one they currently went through, the fear and tension having built to such a high level, Ruby's idea for a day off would be very welcome. And so he reached for his trusty notebook, took the pencil from off of his nightstand and went to work all the while enjoying the peach he had been given.

Downstairs, Roni was leaned against the wall nearest the stairs, eyes watching as Graham and Mulan instructed David and Emma on how best to avoid getting their neck bitten into when an assailent comes up from behind. She hadn't trained a second the entire time she had been here due to the fear of going back out amongst the terror again — but that day would come, she knew it, because sitting behind walls and doing nothing had never suited the brunette. Not before the infection spread and certainly not after.

"It can get a little boring." Blu interrupted Roni's thoughts as she made her way to stand near her, knitting needles in hand. "You know, watching them fight like that."

"It's a nice way of learning before attempting it though. What are you knitting?"

"Socks. Do you plan on training?"

"I think so. Are socks really nessisary?"

"For when the temperature drops? Very much. We won't be able to keep fires going through the night and with no electricity.."

"We'll freeze."

"Not exactly, there are ways of keeping warm. Which is why I've been knitting socks and blankets out of the yarn August keeps getting me."

"You give a lot to this house." Roni commented, clasping her hands in front of her. "It's admirable."

"We all do. Everyone has their role to play and mine, since I prefer to stay here, is to make sure everyone wears clothes without tears or holes and will keep as warm as possible coming winter."

"Do you know why we don't have a generator? It could help when winter hits."

"Too loud. And we don't know how these things deal in cold weather. It could kill them off,it could make them more powerful and harder to kill. It could do anything even make their senses heightened." Blu shrugged as she finished another row of stitches, turning them she started on the new one. "How did you survive out there?"

Roni worried at her bottom lip with her teeth, fingers twisting with one another now as she tried to bite back the images of what being out there had done to her before. "The details aren't pretty. It's best to think about how we're all surviving now rather than how I did then."

She seemed to understand and nodded, allowing the conversation to drop off as Roni turned her gaze back to the training and Blu went back to knitting. The only noises coming from the four in the middle of the room and it stayed like that until the sun went down, everyone ate and then headed to their respective rooms for whatever sleep or rest they could find for the remainder of the night.


	8. Day 129

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak: Day 129.**

Weaver ran a palm over his face, eyes trained to the trees along the right side of the house, looking over the backyard and beyond. He was part of the patrol today during the free time that others were currently enjoying with silly games and talking as well as dancing to music that wasn't playing. He enjoyed the laughter as much as he enjoyed the warmth peaking through the clouds from the sun. Winter was drawing ever closer and he dreaded it as it held unknown obstacles that he were unsure if they all would be able to push through.

His hand tightened around the base of his weapon, knuckles going white with the strain of skin. A light rustling causing his head to turn quickly, eyeing the person who was closing the space; Roni. She had pulled her hair back away from her neck and shoulders, she was also sporting a different outfit than the one she had been wearing the past few days. "Having fun?"

She nodded as she came to a halt beside of him, thrusting a glass of juice in his direction. "I couldn't just ignore the fact that you were out here, by yourself, so..."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine by myself. Graham has the left side of the house. I'm not entirely alone."

"Just let me make my excuses, will you?"

At that he smiled, having caught on to what she was talking about. Had she really used that as an excuse just to come out here where he were standing guard just to talk to him? Inwardly, he reminded himself that kind people do that sort of thing and he shouldn't think anymore of it. "Thank you for the juice."

She nodded, eyes going to the trees as she begun pacing like was normal for those on patrol; he followed suit. "Where did you pick that up from? Have you been training?"

"No, but watching you pace over here for three hours...it can easily be picked up."

"Oh." He chuckled, bringing the glass of juice up to his mouth to take a sip before adding "What were you doing here before the outbreak?"

She sighed, feet kicking at a few stray tufts of grass before answering. "I came here to meet a business partner. They were going to open up a branch here."

"What type of business?"

"It was for a magazine. I don't own it."

"Did you enjoy your job?" He wasn't looking at her as much as he would have liked due to making sure to keep his original task at the forefront, making sure everyone would be safe during the festivities meant more to him than anything. "At the magazine."

"Before the outbreak, I think I enjoyed it."

"What about now?"

"Now, I'm not sure if I could find comfort in it anymore. What about you? What did you do before?"

"I worked for a handful of farmers throughout the town. Just random work when I could get it. We had enough money that we didn't really need to work."

"Weird how money no longer matters, isn't it?"

Weaver nodded at that, his eyes were focused on the trees but he wasn't seeing them. Instead he saw his past, floating around like an image sinking to the bottom of the ocean - muddled and disappearing. Everything he had held close to him, everything that had become a comfort, no longer could be seen as such.

They stayed like that for a while, pacing and watching out into the distance even if Roni wasn't carrying a weapon, she kept him company in the silence. The sun slowly began to descend in the sky above and the laughter faded out as everyone made their way back into the house and onto the tasks for the sunset. The meal that night had been delicious, Emma having tried a few herbs and spices to go along with the mixed canned food.

When Roni headed for the stairs, she saw Archie and Weaver discussing something in depth and even though she hadn't meant to listen in, she had thought she heard the mention of the peach she had given Weaver yesterday and Archie telling him he knew it hadn't come from fruits in the first place but it was better safe than sorry. She couldn't help the smile that etched along her lips at knowing he had, after she left, eaten the fruit with no intent on telling her of such.

She pushed through the door of his room and leaned against the wall, deciding on waiting for him as she wanted to ask something that she was sure he would probably not allow — but if she didn't ask — she wouldn't know. Her eyes roamed along the space he called his room. Most of it was filled with crates and containers that held weapons or ammo, she guessed, having not went through them ever. Of course he had two dressers in there as well that housed clothing they found on their ventures.

The one space that seemed most like his was around the bed. It was a king sized bed with a wooden frame and a small wooden table beside of it that held a cup of pencils and pens as well as a sharpener and a glass of water. Near the bed, was another crate, open and full of various sizes of notebooks. She walked over and after picking up two, realized, they were empty. Bringing herself onto all fours, she dipped her head to glance beneath the bed, but the shadows weren't allowing her to see properly though she could make out something beneath it.

"Looking for something?"

She snapped up at the voice, head turning to see Weaver standing in the doorway with his hands on one of his small notebooks, an eyebrow raised. "Not exactly, just seeing if you have anything under there." With her index finger she pointed to the space beneath the bed then pushed herself onto her feet. "But I can't see."

"Lack of light tends to do that." He states, almost a little too defensive so she decides to drop the subject.

"Mulan and I were washing the dishes after dinner and she told me about the mill you have? I wondered if maybe tomorrow, I could go see it?"

"You can't go alone, you know that? You'll need someone who has been trained to come along in case any infected has gotten in or around the mill."

"Of course, that would be fine."

"I'll schedule it tomorrow. I'll put you on water duty, you'll fill the jugs while we're there and I'll escort you — scope it out. These are two jobs that need done, so that way we won't be out there for no reason."

"Thank you." She walked up to him then and placed a hand on his shoulder, eyes looking over his tired features. "Goodnight, Weaver."

"Goodnight, Roni."

When she left, Weaver finally relaxed — all muscles going limp as he nudged the door closed with his foot and made himself over to his bed, he bent down and pulled a large box out from beneath it. He took.a table from the top, threw it onto his bed then grabbed a stereo and threw it up onto the blankets.

He had been listening to a radio broadcast every few weeks, trying as much as he could not to run out of battery life and trying to listen in to see how the rest of the world might be handling the outbreak as well as his current country. Since two weeks ago though, he has only heard static; wondering if the one person who had been broadcasting the news that pertained to across seas had been killed off by the virus or rescued somehow. It had been the only UK radio station that had been going long after the outbreak and they seemed to somehow know small tidbits about what was going on in the US, how — he had no idea — but the last he heard the outbreak hadn't made it's way across seas yet. But the US had been aware of it happening, they just weren't doing anything but up their security and try to keep it out. But in turn; he thought; they were keeping the survivors out too.

Once on his mattress, he flipped it on, sliding the headphones onto his ears and settling into listening to the static as he wrote down the schedule for tomorrow as well as marked down everything that had been done today as well as the rations that were used. He gave the station an hour or two to have anything other than the white noise he had heard; but nothing ever broke it. He finished the schedule and notes, slid everything back beneath the bed and fell asleep wondering why he could still feel the warmth of Roni's hand on his shoulder.


	9. Day 130

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outreak - Day 130.**

Weaver awoke with a jolt, trembling limbs and a sheen of sweat collected on his brow even if the temperature in his room had dropped during the night. The dream had been a nightmare, one of epic proportions that included his wife Milah and her changing into one of those infected; He couldn't save her in his dream just like he couldn't save her in real life. Shaking his head, he slowly sat up and tried to get the feeling of being bitten into by his dead wife out of his mind and away from his skin.

Surely this is what guilt causes; he thought having remembered falling asleep with the thought of Roni in his mind, the feeling of her hand still on his skin as he dozed and that spot — that very spot had been where his infected wife had tore skin from muscle and tendons. As if it could do any good, he ran a hand over it and began to massage the muscle to help relieve the ache and ghost pain that radiated out.

A soft knock came at the door and he grumbled before pushing himself onto his feet, gripping the knob and opening it just a hare , his eyes fell upon Mulan who was sporting a look of worry. "It's ten in the morning."

"Yeah?" He asked, the time not really registering with his fight and flight brain, it was almost as if he had heard her say six until her brow shot up and it finally registered. He hadn't been awake come dawn, he hadn't put out the schedule, he hadn't done anything he was supposed to do and now they were behind on schedule. "Fuck!"

"Almost throttled you when you just played it off." Mulan's voice echoed back to him as collected up the schedule and bounded for the hallway. "Tomorrow, Emma and David will be ready to go out. They've been training while you slept. Also, we need toothpaste."

He looked up from his paper and shot her a grimace, worry lines forming on his features. "It's not safe for town, we'll need to go elsewhere. I'll have an idea of where before tomorrow."

"Ruby said-"

"Has she been off to explore when she has other chores to be done?"

"No." Mulan quickly countered and he knew she was lying, but decided to skip past it today seeing as he couldn't even bring anger to boil in him for anyone else but himself. That dream had thrown him off completely. "It's just past the farm, past Blu's..." No one had ever called it that when Blu were around and Weaver almost caught himself glancing for her before the sentence had even been finished. "A road that goes on to ... a few houses. Large ones. It's a deserted looking street though, apart from the homes."

"But inside is where the terror can strike. Forest around it?"

"Yeah, on the skirts, just behind every house and off into the distance down a really long road, not sure where it leads." She admitted as they made their way onto the main floor, slipping past a struggling Emma who was currently in a headlock by her own brother, August practically screeching in the corner for Emma to get out of it and kick David's ass. "Listen, I've seen it. It looks nice, there's no boards on windows so no one held up there from what I could tell. We shouldn't find anything like last time and it would be nice for Emma and David on their first go."

"David is more concerned with finding his wife. That could lead us into trouble if he all of a sudden thinks he sees her somewhere and leads us directly into a trap. I'm paranoid after last time, with the explosion."

"We all are. But he knows that wandering off isn't allowed. And I'll give him a good lecture before we leave, before tomorrow." Mulan was practically begging for the change of scenery and to go down a place that looked like it could hold plenty of supplies. The rich always seemed to have stocked everything, the houses were a jackpot waiting to be taken. "Just don't say yes yet, but give it some thought. I'll be happy to lead the party if it calls for it."

"I don't doubt your ability to lead, Mulan. I just doubt our ability in keeping Emma and David in check around structures that could have any sort of hidden rooms or passageways." He sighed, pinning the schedule above the mantel and ignoring the training going on mere inches from where they stood.

"If they step out of line, we pull them back in. If they get bitten, we leave them." It was blunt, but she knew it was the only way to help convince him.

"I'll give it thought."

"Thank you."

"Right, are you two almost done?" He turned now to the siblings, Emma had indeed gotten the upper hand during his talk with Mulan. The blonde was standing up while David was on his knees, hand held high, Emma practically twisting it out of place. Nodding, Emma let him go and brushed her hands off on her pants, giving Weaver a smile that looked very proud. "Schedule is up. My apologies for the delay."

He walked out onto the front porch then, allowing everyone to get their barrings for the day and give them time to set into motion. What had he done? How had he slept so late? The lack of alarm clocks couldn't be brought into the equation considering he had been without an alarm clock for quite some time now. It could have something to do with the lack of sleep he had consistently had throughout the outbreak. Or the nightmare.

"So the watermill. Thank you for working that in." She stated, knowing that she hadn't had any training so it was rare for someone to be able to go far without the proper knowledge. But she wouldn't be alone, he would be with her.

"You're welcome. We need water anyway." He tried to write it off as something they needed and yet he was well aware she knew they had a working pump in the front and may other means of getting water if they didn't want to go back there. "Are you ready?"

She glanced down at herself and nodded. "Just need to go grab the jugs. I'll be only a second."

When she turned and left he had the strangest feeling to go after her, but instead she looked over at August and said "Can I have a weapon?" Within seconds, he had been armed and was ready to step off of the porch and go round to the back. Which he did once Roni had slid up beside him and followed close behind. Keeping his eyes to the trees, he slowed down his pace to prolong the experience.

"It's not too far." He stated, hand closing tight around the base of his gun.

"I don't mind the walk, it's nice being out of the house and not just on the lawn."

"Is it?" He asked, turning to look at her. The sun was kissing her skin in a way that made her look mythical, like a Goddess. He was suddenly finding it difficult to swallow.

"Yes, it is." The jugs were empty, but they were still making a noise of colliding with one another that sent anxiety from her chest down into her stomach.

"If you would rather go with-" He halted, doubt rising in his mind about having practically chosen himself to go instead of someone else.

"I'm glad it's you."

The smile that tugged at her lips did not slip past him and yet he chastised himself for being so eager to see it light up her face like that. What was he? A school boy with a crush? No, surely not. He's not good for anyone like her anyway, he couldn't save his wife; he reminded himself. "Are you?"

"Yes, now come on silly or we won't make it back in time."

"It really isn't that far." He motioned ahead where they could see just a bit of the stone building through the dense trees.

"But I'd like to take my time inside. Really look at it."

"Alright."

Silence fell over them like a heavy brick weighing him down in a vast ocean. For reasons he wasn't willing to admit, he wanted to keep her talking — to hear her voice echoing back through the space between them to settle in his ears like honey. Her words could lift him out of the treacherous depths of these unknown waters, he just knew it. "So you've never seen a watermill?" The question was ridiculous, he knew that much, but it was his only one coming to mind.

"No, I never have. Is it beautiful?" When she looked over at him, her eyes took in the light dancing along his cheeks and casting a strange effervescence along the contours of the bone structure. "Do you know how old it is?"

Shaking his head, his gaze fell to the pair of worn in boots he had been wearing since the outbreak and thought for a moment about if he had ever owned any others. "It's just a watermill." The statement fell bland between them, not one ounce of interest in his tone; last thing he wanted to do was get her hopes up and have them shattered upon seeing the structure for herself. "About the age of it, I would have no clue how to come to a specific era it's from but it does look old. And smells old, actually."

"I know it might seem weird, but that makes me pretty excited to see it." Even if that was the truth, the main factor in her having asked him about it had been to spend time alone with the leader of the group.

"It doesn't." When he glanced up to look in her direction again, he found a soft smile had formed on her lips and couldn't pull his eyes away. What was happening between them? Remember the dream; he reminded himself. Still, his eyes weren't moving away from the vision beside him. The way her muscles were taut on her shoulders, her arms, the gusts of wind that flew by them every now and again and caught a strand or two of her hair. "Here..." He leaned slightly, shoulder brushing hers as he gripped two of the jugs and took them into his free hand. "..you shouldn't have to fill them all by yourself."

When the fabric of his shirt grazed against her, it took every ounce of her strength not to lean against him to feel any other ounce of human interaction as sweet as that. "Shouldn't you be on lookout though?"

"It seems safe enough." The words came out quicker than he meant them to, but luckily they were now at the stream and he could busy himself with squatting down, and getting started on the task at hand. Twisting off the first lid, he sat it aside and took one jug in his hands — slowly and precisely, dipping it beneath the flowing stream, careful to note any odd tinge in the water. Luckily for them, the water was as clear as if it had been strained clean by some unknown force — save for the few particles one would normally find in a stream.

"It's freezing!" Roni gasped the second she had lowered a jug into the water, her hands felt as if she had pushed them through a large tub of ice cream — just not as thick. "How cold do you think it's going to get before long?"

"Very." His reply was short, almost too short and so he added "Fall around here is something not to take lightly. The temperature drops pretty quickly in parts like these and with the current state of the world, or this section of it anyway, it could be worse. There's no way of telling."

"And these waters are the first bits of it, I suspect." She pulled her jug from the icy cold depths before her and replaced the lid with trembling fingers. "I think they've gone numb." A giggle rose up from her chest as she fought to twist the lid tight enough.

"Here.." Ever the opportunist, he leaned over and took her chilled hands in his and placed them beneath his shirt, resting them on the warmth of his stomach. "..is that better?" Roni nodded and Weaver could feel the hesitance in her movements — oh fuck, had he made this awkward?

The heat from his skin felt very welcome to the cold digits on her hand and the frigid skin at her palms, but they were closer now — much closer than they had ever been. She could feel the breath that flowed from his mouth and danced along the skin of her cheek, feel the movement of his stomach with each inhale or exhale, she could smell him and even though in this type of situation with not as much products as she had been used to — he smelled good, really good. Like a dense forest in the middle of summer or a low burning campfire. "What about your hands?" The question was forward but when had she not been the past few days, constantly finding reasons to be near him or to touch him should he allow it.

A breath caught in his throat at her question and he could actually feel his chest quiver when he finally let it out. "W-What about my hands?" When her sweet gaze found his through black as night eyelashes, he almost fell over. Pure seduction wrapped in rose petals; that would be the only way he could describe the feeling wafting from the unwavering look in her eyes. What had happened in the past few seconds? How had something so easy as a task pull them in this deep? It was his fault, he had started it by the act of putting her hands on his bare stomach; he came to the realization and had the urge to break this up before something slipped past them — something dead and then regret would ruin such a beautiful moment.

But he didn't pull away, instead he sat there completely baffled and unable to speak or move. That was when her hands left his stomach and then cupped his. The organ within his chest had begun belting out something akin to those drummers who beat and beat until all the crowd can hear is the over enthusiastic battle cries of a heart that needs release. What was she going to do? Oh why in the hell had he agreed to this? He wasn't good for her! He couldn't save his wife.

With trembling hands, she brought his up to her mouth and began to blow warmth onto them as best as she could. Sure; Roni could have taken a page out of his book and put his hands under an article of her clothing, but with the expression on his face — it would probably make him shy away rather than warm up to the idea of anything as intimate as touching her — even if it would be just to warm his hands. The fact that their skin was wet along the digits, wasn't helping matters when trying to bring the blood flow back. "Is this better?"

No. No it wasn't better because now that nervous feeling he always used to get before talking to any person that wasn't ever close to her beauty was building deep in his stomach and rising up through his chest to that treacherous heart of his. "Yes." He mumbled and almost groaned when he thought the edge of her lip had grazed his thumb. "We-" This was when he should have put his foot in his mouth; he thought. "We need to get back to.."

"Right. Right. Sorry." And without further ado, she released him and turned towards the stream — setting back to the task at hand as quickly as possible so they could head up to the watermill. "Why hadn't we collected water there?"

"It's a little more difficult to do than just..." He motioned at the jug he had just thrust into the icy cold depths and gave a shrug. After that, they continued in silence with the occasion shivering of breath when their hands met with the water and then afterwards when wet skin hit the chill of the air. They had filled at least six jugs and began to cross stream, one rock at a time. "Careful, it's slippery." Weaver called back over his shoulder, trying to keep his footing as he hopped from one wet rock to another, crossing like he had done many times before. It took Roni a little longer to get from one side to the other due to the fact she had never done anything like this in her life.

Once across, Weaver instructed her to leave the jugs outside and they settled them nearest a bush and ascended up the old stone stairs into the main landing of the watermill. The wheel, she could see, was working some of the water from the stream over and over again causing a nice backdrop of sound to echo throughout the large main room. Slowly, she ran a hand along the chilled stone walls, each digit working along the indents as she reveled in the texture against her fingertips. It was rough, cold and sometimes soft due to the moss that had collected over time.

"It does smell old." She commented, inhaling in the musky scent that reminded her of more than a few basements she had been in throughout her life. That and a few cellars. "And it looks really really old, how is it still working after all this time?" Glancing back she noticed Weaver was making his way closer to her as he shrugged, stopping mere inches from where she stood. "Thank you." She wasn't sure if it was for bringing her here or for actually allowing himself to come within touching distance.

"You're welcome." His feet felt like lead and mind was hazy. What had happened back at the stream? What was happening between him and Roni? Was this fast? Was she even interested or had it really been that long since he had flirted or been flirted with? He couldn't really discern any of it, no answer popped into his head. All he could think of was her cold hands against his stomach and the way she held his hands close to her mouth.

"Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to have been born in an era where things like electricity and such didn't exist? Not during something like what we're going through but instead during the times of Kings and Queens and wars with horses, armed with only swords and the like..."

"Not at all. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy the comforts this age has. Like cell phones and blue jeans." Leaning against the stone wall, he crossed on ankle over the other, hand firmly holding onto his gun. "You can't tell me you would prefer to be in a large skirt and corset, dress covered in lace or something..."

"Not exactly, but I do romanticize the situations and the behavior back th-" Glancing over at him she felt her breath catch it her throat as everything began to slow down. Her arm reached out as she pointed, mouth agape and fear filling her frame. One thing they hadn't been doing, keeping their guard up, and now — now there was something — someone staggering into the watermill with blood covered features and torn clothing. The infected were gruesome looking things, eyes as red as blood and limbs moving in such a state that seemed as if they had lost all control of muscle until they could grasp at food which was what the one currently in close proximity was trying to do with it's hands outstretched to Roni as it began to sprint forward.

She saw it, the infected irises, the hungry mouth with teeth and could hear the snarling, gurgling but as she stumbled back and fell, elbows catching her fall she shut her eyes as tight as she could and brought her hands up to her ears. Someone was screaming, she could hear it, loud and shrill and pained. Had Weaver brought someone to tag along in the outskirts so they could keep an eye out or was that the infected human's voice?

Her heart was racing, limbs shaking as she cowered on the stone floor and willed her mind not to go back to abandoned streets and dead bodies laying on the side of the road but it did. Images and noises filling her brain as if she had never found the safe haven of Weaver's home — as if she had never truly gotten out. The scent of blood and rot filled her nose, causing her stomach to churn. Were her hands numb? She couldn't feel any part of her own body and it felt as if a pile of bricks had been laid upon her chest, upon her limbs. No no no no no no no no, please, no, please please please — a string of pleading words were racing in her head but the second she felt warmth touch her shoulders, she went to yelp and realized that she—she had been the one screaming.

"Roni? Roni?" Weaver's eyes were wide with shock at seeing how she had reacted; sure she had been unarmed but darting out of the way would have been enough to allow him to get a shot in, to halt the infected in it's tracks. Hadn't she heard the reverb anyway? Roni had been sitting on the floor much longer than needed, she had been screaming too. He had already dragged the body into the forest and said her name numerous times; But now as he stared into chocolate eyes that looked as if they weren't quite seeing him, he knew something had happened. "Can you walk?" No response followed, her trembling only increased. "I'm going to lift you up. Okay? Roni? I'm going to carry you." She wasn't nodding, but she wasn't screaming now either so he reached out to her and scooped her up into his arms.

He needed help, assistance, but leaving her here like this was not an option. It took a minute or two for him to adjust to her weight, especially considering how badly her body was shaking. "You're going to be okay." The words were out before he could even think, but all he wanted was to console her in any way possible. "It's alright, you're safe." In truth he wasn't completely sure about that, one infected usually meant another wouldn't be too far behind or a horde of them even, but saying that wouldn't make matters better.

Swiftly, he moved up to the opening of the door and peered out, glancing around just in case in the moments he had been with her — another one breached their perimeter. Much to his surprise, none had, and so he began to dart out of the watermill and down the stone steps, then cross back over the stream. The jugs were left back where they had put them and he would need to come back for them, but right now the most important thing was getting Roni somewhere safe. "You're alright." He whispered, pulling her closer to his chest as he rested his chin against her head, trying to give her warmth in any way possible. "It's going to be okay, we're close now, we're really close." They were, he had began a sprint of sorts — at least one that was fitting for a man of his age while carrying a woman who was trembling, albiet not a marathon runner.

Mulan darted out of the house, eyes wide. "What-what happened?"

She had already raised her gun and started off behind Weaver when he shouted; "Wait! I'm going back with you. And we'll need to bring August and Graham. Get them ready." He climbed the steps two at a time and brought Roni into Archie's makeshift infirmary. As gently as he could, he laid her on one of the cots, propping her against the wall. "Keep an eye on her. See if you can stop her from shaking. I'll be back."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I think it might be shock, she just shut down and hasn't responded since she stopped screaming." At that he left, regardless of his mind protesting and wanting him to stay at her side. "Ready" He asked Mulan who had already collected both August and Graham, all with weapons at the ready. Weaver grabbed the pistol from where he had tucked it into the back of his jeans and darted out of the door with them the second Mulan gave him a nod. Getting back to the watermill had been quicker, with everyone on high alert and taking no chances. His eyes never stopped glancing through the trees and down the way, then back at the house — the infected had gotten through because his guard was down. He wasn't good for Roni. He couldn't save his wife.

"It's in the forest around twenty paces up." He motioned for August to go and get rid of the body, Graham went to help him while Mulan kept her gaze on the area around them. "It's my fault."

"What is your fault?" She asked, not looking in his direction.

"Roni being like this. I hadn't—I—"

"We let our guard down sometimes. It's normal. You couldn't have known she would have reacted this way."

"Still."

"Would you stop beating yourself up constantly? You're not a bad guy and yet you give yourself such a hard time."

"I can't help it."

"You mean you don't deserve to cut yourself some slack?"

Mulan was right, of course she was, they had known each other a little too long now to not be able to at least be able to tell when one wasn't being completely honest — hadn't they? "I don't. I couldn't—"

"Save your wife. I know, we all know. Weaver —" And then she turned to him, eyes full of sincerity, "John. Listen to me. Your wife wouldn't want you to do this. She wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over something that could not have been prevented. No one deserves to hurt or feel pain, let alone after their significant other is tragically killed during an infection of rage filled non-humans. Okay? And this situation with Roni, this is just something that happened. It doesn't mean you will let your guard down again. It also doesn't mean that if your guard HAD been up that this wouldn't have happened. It could have. So many of us, so many we've lost, could attest to that. You know, I know it, every person in that house back there knows it. And they should know I'm really good at heart to hearts too, but it turns out you're my first victim. How does it feel?"

"I would have thought Blu was your first victim." He stated, trying to allow her words to sink in even if it felt like he could deny every one of them. "She could use a talk, a really good one."

"She has her way of coping. It's with knitting and taking care of all of us like she's our mother, but it works for her and it's not a harmful thing either. But what you're doing is going to end up getting you killed or pushing people away. You don't want that, do you?"

"It might be better. Everyone might be better off."

"They wouldn't. And that is the last time I want to hear anything like that come out of your mouth."

If they weren't close; he would in no way allow her to talk to him like this without a good old fight or argument of sorts, but they were and as much as he wanted to tell her he didn't like her tone, he also knew it was the only way he would have even listened. "We need to spread out and make sure no others are coming for that one."

"Yes, we do. Good thinking, Weaver."

With that they set out to join August and Graham, all four deciding on which parts they would start at and exactly where the patrol would end. It took them well close to nightfall but they had looked as far as they thought was best and nothing, not one other infected seemed to be in sight — by the time they got back to the safe house, the stars had risen and the sky had formed into one dark sheet — no clouds in sight.

Food was waiting downstairs for them in the basement once they barred the door and put away their weapons. Weaver shrugged out of his boots and took both his helping as well as Roni's up with him to the infirmary. "You can go eat, Archie." He stated as soon as he pushed through the doorway.

"Nothing's changed. She's fine in other aspects, but is seemingly a bit unresponsive. I got her to drink water — but I had to do it for her. I'm not sure how this is going to go in regards to, well, the bathroom."

With a wave of his hand, Archie excused himself and Weaver sat down on the cot. "He's just being practical, I guess." He commented on Archie's mention of the bathroom. "We'll have Mulan assist you if you, if you can't—" Sighing, he placed his food onto the makeshift table and then began swirl hers around with the spoon. It wasn't much, but at least it didn't smell like something he would vomit up. "I need you to open your mouth." There was no response, her mouth was still — lips pursed — so he placed the bowl on his lap and with a cupped hand beneath it, brought the spoon to her lips. The second the warmth touched her skin, they opened and he was able to place it inside, tilting it so the contents would spill into her mouth — once the spoon was away, she closed her lips and swallowed.

"So...you are able to do some things." The words were more for himself rather than her. If it were true, then he hoped that this was just a state that she needed to go into in order to cope and that maybe she would soon be out of it. After all, they did need her — they needed everyone. Right? Right. "We—When you're ready, we'll be here." Slowly, he continued to feed her while he talked, even if she might not be able to discern what he was saying. "We checked the area around the watermill. Couldn't find any other infected, which is a great sign. Mulan, August and Graham helped and we were able to get the water too. Graham carried it back, we'll boil it tomorrow and put it into clean jugs. You did well helping with that. But we do need you, so when you can..." He tried to appeal to her, tried to get anything to break in her state, but nothing happened. She just continued to lean against the wall, eat the food he fed her when the spoon touched her mouth and blink. What was going on in her mind? He couldn't tell but he was sure it had something to do with what happened to her before she came here.

When the bowl was empty, he put it aside and moved to pull her into his arms again. Straightening up his spine, he turned on the heel of his feet and began to bound up the staircase, whispering words he hoped would reach her. Such as safe and home and needed and that nothing would hurt her. What he didn't mention was that he felt the need to save her, to keep her from harm and to help her fight this—fight the fear that had caused her to shut down. She was strong, he knew that much, because she had survived out there by herself for as long as she had.

He brought her up to the room she shared with Mulan and laid her upon the bed. Moving to the foot of it, he slipped off her shoes and placed them on the floor before pulling the covers up onto her body and tucking them beneath her frame on the edges. Taking a seat on the floor next to the bed, he leaned against it and closed his eyes.

Although he couldn't fully explain it or want to admit it; Weaver couldn't leave her alone tonight and no matter what anyone said, he wasn't going to move from that spot until the sun had risen.


	10. Day 131

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outreak - Day 131.**

Last night a different type of nightmare filled Weaver's head. Every fifteen minutes he would awake to the sound of Roni sobbing or the thudding of his own heart in his ears from the terrors that had been painted behind closed eyelids. Frequently he would check on her, if she were silent but when the sobs were loud — he would reach for her and hold her hand, brushing his fingertips along the palm until they settled and he could hear the soft inhale of slow breathing.

If he hadn't agreed to go with her, if he had sent someone else...

Mulan found him with his head pressed against the side of the mattress and her hand against his forehead, clasped in both of his hands, digits looking as if they were holding on for dear life and in some ways; he was. The night terrors had reduced him to this, that's what he told himself.

"Morning." She said, patting his shoulder softly — causing him to jerk awake, eyes wide as if he were expecting one of the infected to tap his shoulder.

"Is it?" He asked, giving Roni's hand a few strokes from his digits, just in case Mulan or he had woken her. She remained motionless this morning, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly. "She's asleep." He nodded towards the brunette as if the woman standing near him couldn't tell.

"Breakfast." Mulan handed two bowls to him, he placed his on the floor, not really hungry as he hadn't been last night either and then shuffled to his feet.

It took him a minute to realize that Roni actually wasn't asleep, she was just laying there, still as a mouse. At least her breathing was slow and rhythmic, eyes closed and she wasn't crying. Though her eyes still looked red and puffy from where she had done so often last night.

"Archie says it's good that she's crying. It's allowing her to release some tension. But the bad news is, that if she is crying in this state the tension she is feeling isn't like a regular need to cry moment. It's much worse."

"And you're telling me this, why?"

"You're our leader. I'm sorry. It's pertinent information. Plus there's also another good news factor to think about."

"And what is that?" Weaver placed the bowl on the bed while he reached down and gently touched her hand, giving it a squeeze, letting her know he was there before he helped sit her up and lean her against the headboard. Her eyes opened as soon as she was in an upright position, reminding him of those dolls who would open their eyes when tilted.

"There's a possibility that she isn't even aware of what is going on in her head."

"A possibility? But not a fact?" He asked, taking his seat at the edge of the bed and scooping up the bowl. "If it were a fact, that might be good news but for now it's neutral news. You could have come in here and told me that the sun had risen and that would have been better news."

"You already knew the sun was up. Though, we are lacking a schedule. And stop biting at me. "

Sighing, he began to slowly feed Roni the breakfast that Blu had made out of the boiled fruits. "You're right, you don't deserve it. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. But considering how angered you are, it might be best that you stay home today and not go out with David, Emma and I. I'll take Graham with us and leave August as well as Ruby with you."

He nodded, not really wanting to leave Roni by herself. "Can you bring me one of my notebooks? I will draw up a list for everyone to follow today, that way everyone will have something to do."

"You will have a chore too? Weaver, you can't be here all day."

"I will. I plan on taking her with me. Having things done around her like normal, might help bring her back to us."

"Fair enough."

He knew that Mulan was trying not to give him a hard time, but he also knew she wanted to make sure he didn't give himself a hard time. Guilt, that was something he had plenty of and without the reminder of how much he didn't deserve to feel it; he would have been long gone by now — the infected would have gotten him when he were too busy feeling bad about everything he had caused in one way or another. "Thank you." And he meant it, for everything, for all of the shit she put up with from him.

"You would do the same for me." With that, she turned on the heel of her boots and headed out of the door, set on fetching him what he needed to make a schedule for the day so everyone wouldn't be running around like ants without a home.

Weaver angled his body towards Roni, giving her a smile even if she couldn't see it and the action itself felt wrong somehow to him on his features. "The smile is weird." His voice falters when she doesn't reply, then he decides to go a different route as he continues to feed her. "Maybe when you're ready, we could talk. About the peach you gave me a bit ago...about the occurrence in which you're coming around me...I enjoy your company." The words hang in the air as silence falls around them, leaving a small hint of anxiety to settle in his stomach before Mulan's footsteps breaks the hold it had on him.

"Here you go.." She thrusts the tablet and pen towards him, then goes to lean against the wall while staring out of the window that leads onto the roof. "Everything is really quiet today.. almost too quiet. I don't like it."

"I'm sure that you will have your fill later, when you go venturing with the group." Weaver places the bowl next to his thigh on the bed while he quickly begins to work out a schedule for today just on what he knew had been done over the past few days, instead of using the graphs he usually makes.

"I doubt it. Like I've said before, the place doesn't look like anyone's been there for a while. A long while."

"You never know. I mean—" He motioned towards Roni, knowing that she wasn't really registering what anyone did around her unless they were touching. "I didn't expect anything to happen. But it did. Stay on your guard."

"I will and so will everyone else. We are going to be okay without our leader for one outing." She waited until he held the paper out to her before crossing the expanse of the room and taking it from him. "Thank you." With that; she headed out of the door and down into the main room where she pinned up the list and began to gather everyone for the venturing today.

When he went back to feeding her, she refused to open her mouth for the last few bites, so he sat it down and then picked up his, began eating because he knew if he didn't, he would go all day without having a bite. "I think we'll head downstairs, start washing the laundry Blu gathers." He left half of the bowl uneaten, collected both leftover helpings, then began to head for the door when he heard a noise and turned. She was sitting there where he left her, only now she was shaking and letting out a slight noise that sounded akin to a whimper.

She didn't want to be alone. How could she tell he was leaving?

Walking back over to her, he laid her back, placed the bowls on her stomach and then slowly — carefully, lifted her up into his arms and headed downstairs. "You can tell when I'm leaving, huh? That's a good thing, I'm guessing." He didn't look at anyone as he made his way onto the main floor and headed for the basement. The door had been left open, so he descended the stairs with ease and settled her down onto the dining table. Grabbed the bowls from her stomach, placed them in the sink and turned to get her into one of the chairs. "Everything is going well, we're all starting our days and I think I'm going to need you to keep me company while I wash. Does that sound good to you?" He kept up the talking in hopes something could snag her from the depths her mind had thrown her into and then pull her back up out of the dark depths back to him.

Whatever this was, that she was going through, he felt himself practically begging every second to have her back. The woman who hadn't backed down from trying to get close to him, regardless of how shut off he continued to be and with how much he loathed himself. Now she was the one who was shut off, only this was due to trauma of something much worse than he had encountered — or at least that is what he thought.

"There you go.. now, where did I put that.." He began peaking through cabinets and moving around pots, pans, the odd bucket or two. "...have you seen it?" Casting a glance over his shoulder at her, he watched to see if anything in her expression moved,but nothing happened — disheartened, he pushed on. "I think it's.." Reaching up above one of the shelves, his hands collided with something made of tin. "Ahah!" Sliding his fingertips up the cool surface, he gripped the edge and tugged it down from where it had been hidden.

"Here we go..." He thrust the bin onto the floor and gave it a once over. It looked like one of those old tin tubs with a washboard inside, which he would use to wash clothes a way he had never had to do until the outbreak. "This is going to be a task. Know any good songs?" He began to hum a little, some tune he could remember hearing on the radio one morning before the outbreak happened.

To his surprise, she began humming it too. A little out of tune, but it felt as if she had broken out into song. His heart sped up, a smile stretching across his lips and the one person he knew to call for's name left his lips in a manner that he hoped would not disturb Roni in her humming. "Archie!"

Luckily, the tune emitting from within her frame continued as the doctor bounded down the stairs and up next to Weaver, eyes wide as saucers. "What made her do this? What is she doing?"

"Humming. I started to hum and she just...she joined in."

"This is a good thing. I hope." Archie sighed, hands on his hips as he bent at the waist and gave her a good once over, trying to note any changes in her expression or eyes since the last time he had inspected her. Nothing had changed, apart from the vibrating hum moving through her. "Keep up whatever you're doing. Maybe this is helping her soothe the panic." Giving Weaver a pat on the shoulder, he headed back upstairs to start on the task he had been assigned.

Blu had begun making her way down the stairs with laundry in arms, placing the items onto the dining table then heading back upstairs to collect more. She had shot an expression of excitement in the direction of Weaver, having heard the humming.

He filled the tub with a couple of jugs of water, lifted it the best he could up onto the nineteen twenties type of stove, then began to fill the bottom of it up with a few logs and some twigs, used a few scraps of cloth and some paper from an old phone book to get the fire started. Matches weren't the easiest things to use in this case, but they worked like a charm when the flame slowly began to come to life. Giving it a couple of blows for good measure, he shut the small door and stood to his feet, watching and waiting. All the while humming the same line of song that Roni had continued humming and hadn't quite stopped. When he joined though, he could have sworn her humming got softer somehow.

"You know.." Halting in his humming, he angled his body towards hers, eyes drinking in her visage at the dining table, before continuing; "..I bet you have a great singing voice. The humming you're doing.." These compliments were getting stranger and stranger as time went on and he hoped she wouldn't remember any of them when she snapped out of whatever trance this was. "...really good. God, what am I saying?" Sliding a hand along his face, he tilted his head up to the ceiling and just stood there, listening to her hum all the while Blu continued bringing laundry while the pot on the stove slowly began to heat.

Stretching his arms above his head, he tried to work out the kinks in his shoulders and back from sleeping in a sitting position the entire night. The pull of his muscles caused a sensation that sent the lids over his eyes and the breath in his chest to halt, until he released his arms back down to his sides and gave an audible sigh.

"I used to have a working iPod." He stated, remembering the early days when he had many things still, the time when the outbreak had been a new occurrence and fight or flight hadn't taken full control of his body. Glancing over at the water on the stove, he reached out a hand and dipped his finger into the depths which engulfed his digit in warmth, the sensation very welcome. Removing his finger from the tub, he gripped two dish cloths, gripped the sides of the basin and brought it onto the floor.

"Here to collect the lady." Blu said, bounding down the stairs with Mulan in tow. "I'll take her to the bathroom." She went over to where Roni was sitting and glanced at Weaver. "How should I start?"

"Touch her wrist or hand, let her know she's safe then help her up." He spoke calmly as he began to roll the sleeves up on his shirt, pulling them above his elbows, bunching the fabric.

Mulan waited until Blu touched Roni's hand and then went to scoop her up, following Blu up the stairs and towards the bathroom on the second floor.

Weaver took to adding soap into the wash bin, then brought the pile of laundry onto the floor next to him. Each item, he brought beneath the water, swished it around and rubbed the fabric together in the soapy tin, raised it up and rung out the water, then brought it against the washboard, over and over again. His forearms were soaked, suds up to the elbows as he continued to do the same with the rest of the items that needed a good washing. Humming, he kept going until he was around a quarter through the items, having tossed them onto a spare chair until he could carry them outside.

"I'll get you the basket." Blu said as she descended the stairs beside of Mulan who was carrying Roni in her arms, bringing her to the chair she had been sat in earlier and settling her in there. Blu then turned and headed back upstairs while Mulan lingered.

"She did well. It's like autopilot. She stopped humming the second we closed the door and then when we heard it start back up again, she was finished. It's a good tell-tale sign when we need it." Giving Roni a pat on the back, Mulan shot Weaver a soft smile then headed towards the stairs. "We're going out now. We'll be back before dark." She climbed the stairs then as Blu made her way back down and began placing all of the clothes into the basket.

"I'll hang them up to dry." She said, before taking a seat at the table next to Roni, joining in on the humming that was emitting from her frame. Weaver joined them too and that only helped to push his efforts at the task, completing it long before he thought he would.

Hours passed slowly as he spent most of his time in the basement. After the laundry, he cleaned every surface down there, including the chairs. Then moved onto rearranging the stock of food and water as well as taking note, drawing up the graphs ( having asked Blu to bring him his notebook and pen ), made the schedules for the next two days, then washed the dishes from breakfast, filled some jugs from the sink, then took to making dinner ten minutes before Mulan and then had walked through the door.

He fed Roni while everyone ate around them, joining in on the conversation for the first time in a long time. David and Emma were gushing over the houses they were able to search through today, spewing details about the outdoors and how much they missed feeling safe while being further from the safe house. Mulan had even joined in about how funny it had been when David opened a closet and an ironing board fell against him, claimed David yelped and drew his gun faster than humanly possible and how Emma fell to the floor laughing when he noticed he had just shot an object and not an infected.

Once everyone had finished, he washed the dishes and then brought Roni upstairs to her bedroom that she shared with Mulan. However, Graham was climbing through the window out onto the roof when he came in and laid Roni down on her bed. "Didn't I put that you were on watch tonight?" He asked Mulan as he tugged the covers up over Roni's body, then ran a hand against her wrist.

"I'm on Roni watch instead. You're going to sleep tonight."

"I will, here. I'll be fine."

"Weaver, this isn't up for negotiation. You spent all day with her. That is good enough. Now go get some sleep or do I have to get everyone up here just to pull you to your room?" The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. He wasn't going to get his way, he would be best to listen regardless of the urge within him to not leave her side.

"Fine, but if something happens.." He began but stopped once Mulan nodded, crossing the space between her and Roni's bed, then she took a seat beside of it and took the woman's hand into her own. "Goodnight, Mulan."

"Goodnight, Weaver."

With that he turned and headed downstairs,walking slowly as to make sure Roni wouldn't start whimpering or anything as he got closer to his room. When no sound followed him, he shut his door and went to sit on the edge of his bed. Running a hand over his face, then through his hair, he let out a sigh that seemed to help his shoulders relax. Leaning forward, he tugged off his boots, set them aside and then laid back on his bed. Reaching for the blanket, he pulled it up to his chest and closed his eyes — allowing his mind to drift off to the memories of Roni when she wasn't in the current state. The moments when he saw her smile or that time he had made her laugh as well as the moment she had touched his shoulder. Then the time by the stream floated to the surface, the feeling of her cold hands beneath his shirt...

He had drifted off to sleep seconds later, the darkness pulling him up into a warm embrace as he hoped tomorrow would be better for Roni, that she would make some progress.

When the mattress shifted, he jolted awake, having felt like he were asleep for just a second. His hands went up as if to protect himself until he realized someone warm had nuzzled up close to his chest — the smell was unmistakable. Roni was currently cuddled up against his side. His eyes shot to the door where he saw Mulan shrug, then say "She walked here. I couldn't stop her, I tried."

"We'll be fine. Thank you." He spoke softly as he felt warm breath fan out against his chest, soft hands gripping the fabric of his shirt. Settling in, he wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes. "You're safe." Was all he could manage as he began to drift off, but before the darkness swept him up — he could have sworn he heard a soft thank you come from her lips.


	11. Day 132

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak - Day 132.**

Consciousness came to Weaver slowly at first, then like a rushing waterfall — his body jerked awake, eyes wide as he searched his surroundings. Lidded eyes fell upon the face of Roni, plastered in dark curls and coated in a sheen of sweat. She looked to be sleeping peacefully, that was until he caught the tears staining her cheeks.

Timid hands around Roni's frame as he tried to soothe her with a few strokes of his hand down her spine. The second her eyes opened and she actually looked up at him — he thought he were dreaming. With the back of her hand, she wiped her tears away before leaning her forehead against his lips and he took the opportunity to place a chaste kiss there.

"I feel like I've been screaming for an eternity." Her voice was soft, sleep filled in the semi-darkness of the room. "The only silence I found was when I could feel you." The words that were pouring from her lips were causing his heart to thunder against his rib cage. "How long was I out of it?"

He shook his head, delaying the answer so that he could find his voice before making he a fool of himself. This close proximity was pushing the boundaries of their—what was it? Friendship?—relationship and if he wasn't careful, he could fuck it all up. "Not long." What he really wanted to say was that she had been gone longer than he cared to remember and how he was more than happy to have her back, but that would be too forward, they weren't there — not to mention he had put her in the line of the danger in the first place. He shouldn't have agreed to let her venture that far from home so soon.

"It felt like years." She was opening up to him and so he offered her the only thing he could, the pressure of his hands running the length of her back and then back up to her shoulder blades. "It must have been such a tasking thing...dealing with m-"

"No." He quickly answered, using one of his hands to guide her face towards his as he made sure to look her directly in the eyes. "It was not tasking or anything like that. You were hurting, Roni. You are allowed to hurt regardless of how we all make it seem. You don't have to be strong all of the time."

"You are." Her hands closed around the wrist of the one that was holding her chin as she spoke; "You keep this up. This strength, this unwavering confidence in your actions."

Confidence? Who was she seeing? He wondered, knowing all too well that he had lost any and all confidence any moment he was around her.

"You're a great leader. You run a well oiled ship. It's inspiring." She continued before sliding her hands down to his forearm and giving it a squeeze. "You have no idea how inspiring..it is."

The air between them felt thick and Weaver's frame began to heat up the longer she held his gaze, the longer her warm hands were wrapped around his arm. Just as she had begun to lean in, he turned his face away.

"I-I-" she stammered, quickly pushing herself away from his frame but he caught her, pushing her back down against his chest. "I-thought you looking away meant-"

"That I didn't want to kiss you?" He asked, turning to look at her now and inwardly he wanted to slap himself for putting the look of doubt on her features. When she nodded, he continued "I do. I want to kiss you. But Roni, you've just been through a lot and that would be-"

"It's not taking advantage of me."

"I think you should give yourself more time to think about what it is you want and see if your reasoning's behind it are true and not something you feel like you have to do or need to do. Because you don't have to, I don't expect that—you should know—"

"I know that." Her hands were splayed out against his chest now and as she looked down, her curls fell over her face like a curtain and Weaver fought the urge to scoop them up in his hands and tug her mouth to his.

When a knock came at the door, she quickly pushed off and away from him, getting to her feet as she opened the door to Mulan. Roni pushed past her and headed downstairs.

"What was that? Is she awake?" Mulan asked while she eyed Weaver who was still laying in bed. "Well?"

"Yeah. She's awake." He ran a hand along his face before pushing himself up into a seated position. "Breakfast ready?"

"It is. In fact, Blu and Archie have something they want to tell us while we eat, so there's something to look forward to. You coming downstairs?" She asked as she turned to leave.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." His palms carded through his hair, ruffling up the strands until he felt the tension in his body leave his muscles. The moment before had been enough to set his nerves on edge, he could have given into her and kissed her how he thought she deserved to be kissed. But of course, he had to go and fuck up the moment all because he felt like she deserved better or that she wasn't truly interested in him.

Hell, he didn't even know his reasons behind denying her the kiss anymore. All his mind could think about was how she looked leaning into him, how warm her body felt against his.

Pushing his mind to think about anything else, so that he could calm down his thoughts that were clearly getting away with themselves, he stood to his feet and paced the floor a couple of times before bending to slide on his boots and then heading downstairs to the main room.

No one was there, it was empty and for a split second he could imagine what it would be like if everyone in the safe house were to be killed off by the infected and he were left here again - alone. The churning of his stomach caused a grimace to tug at his features and he couldn't imagine being _there_ once more. Back to where he was the bad guy and no one was gaining anything out of his existence.

Pushing out a breath of air forcefully through his mouth, he tenses his shoulders and began to wring his hands in a fit of anxiety, trying to push away the spiriling thoughts that had begun the second he turned Roni down from a kiss. _What the fuck was I thinking?_

"Weaver?" Roni's face appeared in the distance as she had peaked around the corner of the kitchen into the main room, warm inviting eyes calling to him to join her. "Are you coming?" He gave a hesitant nod of his head before closing the space between them. Once he was by her side, she laced her fingers with his own and began walking through the basement door and descending the stairs.

Heat radiated from his palms and up his arm as they joined the others and took their seats at the table. Luckily, he broke the connection before they had taken their seats. "Blu, you and Archie had something you wanted to bring up?"

Blu nodded and stood to her feet, shortly joined by Archie. However, the doctor was the first to speak up. "Blu and I have been working out a few ideas as to the means of our food intake. We're all more energized during the day after we've had fruits for breakfast. We wondered, why not grow our own."

"And this would help cut the usage of water as well as wood, because if we grow it - we won't need to boil it since we can keep an eye on what is going into it's growth."

"With the infection, we have been worried about growing fruit above land and attracting infected as well as other safe houses that are less friendly." Archie continued, glancing in Blu's direction before turning back to face Weaver. "I pose the option of hydroponics or aeroponics. Whichever we find that works the best, we'll use so that we can have fruits and vegetables at hand at any point in time."

"Which will provide more nutrients and help sustain our energy for longer points, which might even increase productivity by at least twenty percent and increasing as well as cutting down on our usage of other means, will not only help us when we want to take those break days that Ruby so kindly suggested.." Blu spoke softly, before turning to Archie and allowing him to finish where she was heading with this.

"...but also set our estimated lifespan at a much greater length instead of having unneeded things like fear, anxiety and worry plaguing us regarding food. Not to mention we won't accidentally eat five month old canned processed vegetables with so much salt and preservatives in it that we're basically killing ourselves."

"Do we have the means of actually pushing this thought into action? What we need for it to work?" Weaver posed the one and only question he had that could shut down the idea that he thought was rather fitting to help them into a better looking future.

"We don't have everything right now, but I can draw up a list for everyone to gather. And we wanted to ask you for a complete map and also allow one of us, rather me.." Archie pointed to himself after seeing a look on Blu's face that begged him not to make her be the one to go. "..help lead a search party over to Blu's farm and a little ways out so that we can locate some more plants to grow. In fact, this could also help with growing medicinal properties too."

"Whatever you need...write it all down. I need one list for the hydroponic items you'll need to make the growth happen. Then I need a second list for plants, and the like. I'll have a map for you and do you one better. Each time we go out, we'll take you with us to look at the plants surrounding wherever we are."

"That would be great, Weaver. Perfect."

"Is that all?" He asked, watching as Archie took his seat and gave him a nod. "Great, good work, you two."

After the breakfast session had completed, Weaver made a schedule and pinned it up over the mantel. It didn't take long for someone to open the front door in an attempt to let the sun in, only to be reminded at the chill and then close it. Everyone began to move around to do what they had been instructed to. Roni's task had been to help Blu with laundry, keeping her indoors for the time being considering he wanted to make sure she could leave the house when ready.

By the end of the day; he had cleaned all of the weaponry as properly as he could and replaced all ammunition to full capacity as well as took stock of what all they were in need of in means of defense.

He was now sitting on his bed, finishing up the schedule for tomorrow. His bare feet were tucked beneath the blankets as he ripped the page from it's binding and thrust both the tablet and schedule onto his nightstand. The chill that was filling the air within the house had caused his lungs to sputter a couple of times throughout the day and he was hoping it wouldn't take long for his body to adjust to the temperature.

Leaning forward, he turned the dial on his solar powered lantern and then slid beneath the blankets, head pressed into the pillow and eyes closing upon the relaxing of his muscles.

At the door creaking, he opened one eye to see a form he knew belonged to Roni slowly closing the door and moving through the expanse of his room towards his bed. Once she slipped beneath the covers, she wiggled enough to get her pants off and then snuggled close to his chest. "This is becoming a habit." Was all he could say as the warmth was well welcomed after enduring the cold all day long.

"I don't have nightmares when I'm next to you." Her voice was soft as she spoke, face pressed firmly beneath his chin — against his neck.

"How long have you had nightmares?" He asked, arms wrapping around her frame hesitantly — well aware of the signal it would send to her that this kind of thing was okay. And why wouldn't it be? He pondered in the silence as he waited for her answer. They were in a world that was run by infected humans and survival was not a guarantee.

He'd just answered his own question in his head. Survival was not a guarantee. Why would he get close to someone to just have them ripped from him in the next instant and then him being faced with the guilt of it being his fault. Or vise-versa.

"Since the outbreak happened. Every night. But the one I spent in your bed or with your hand in mine." The weight of her words rested in the air between them before she spoke again "I don't know why. You just...you make me feel calm — relaxed." Her fingertips gripped at his shoulder blades before going soft and lax against them.

He wanted to ask about why she had broken down with him in the same room as her then. Why she shut off the world when the infected was stopped by him. But then he remembered that she wasn't aware he had stopped it — having shut down the second her eyes settled on the damned thing.

The memory of the look in her eyes, the dead-pan far away haze, caused him to pull her closer regardless of signals or the like. She was stronger than this, he knew that, but it would take a while to get her to a point where she would be able to face those infected without a flinch.

He made a silent promise to her that he would help her get there when she was ready to begin.


	12. Day 133

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak - Day 133.**

The festivities had begun outside, everyone taking a break and mingling as they usually do. August and David had volunteered to help out with patrolling the perimeter while Weaver had went to do a spur of the moment check on the water mill. The place was empty, abandoned and nothing at all had been left behind to even hint that they had been there.

On his way back, he stopped next to David, who placed a hand on Weaver's back and began talking the second he did so. "There's nothing here. So far I've kept my eyes trained and nothing. Not even a wolf or a coyote or anything like that."

Weaver gave a slight nod before glancing back over at the tree line, eyes searching for something that wasn't there. "Better that than a horde coming our way." Once the sentence left his lips, he began walking back towards the safe house. Having not taken but a few paces before gun shots rang out in the distance, echoing off of the forests around them. The sound had seemingly come from the other side of the building where August was on patrol. Weaver darted for it, David on his heels with his gun raised.

"What happened?" He asked, catching his breath the second he was beside of August, eyes on the clearing near the trees. He could seen a dark figure on the ground.

"Infected. Just one." August answered, starting to slowly edge towards the body with both David and Weaver following close behind him. "I couldn't see any others."

The closer they came to the thing, the worse the smell was. His stomach was turning the second he could see it's marred face and the deep bullet hole in the back of the head. "Cut it up. Drag it off. Retrace your steps and it's steps. Once you're sure the coast is clear, get back to your posts."

He turned away from them and headed back in the direction of the house, eyes on Archie as he closed the distance between himself and the doctor. "How much of your studies revolved around their behavior? As in going places in a group?"

"A good chunk of it. They never travel alone." Archie adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, keeping eye contact with the leader. "There will always be three or four infected at the very least, never a sole one because it takes two to travel, one to turn and they pick up others on the way. The noises they make somehow has an understanding to their overly stimulated minds." When Weaver gave a questioning look, the doctor elaborated. "It sends them towards one another, tells them of a fresh meal close by. They essentially react in a rage like state once close to the victim, but until then they just listen for the noises they make to tell them where to go. It's like you with us. Follow the leader."

"That's the second infected to travel alone towards our house. If this isn't normal behavior... then what the fuck..." Weaver stated in a hushed tone so that no one could overhear and start a fear epidemic in their safe house. "Anything come to mind?" Archie shook his head, not having ever heard of anything like that since the outbreak.

Weaver skated past him, heading in the direction of the door to the safe house. Once inside, the musky scent of a large house with no open windows seizes his lungs and causes him to clear his throat twice. He finds Roni on the stairs, arms wrapped around herself before she catches sight of him. What she does next, catches him off guard. In the blink of an eye, she's against him, arms wrapped around his neck, lips next to his ear and it takes everything in him not to lose his balance.

"It was another one, wasn't it?" He can feel the push of her chest as she inhales against him, the heat of her breath hitting his skin as she speaks.

"Yes." Is all he can manage as he holds his hands away from her, before slowly placing his palms on her back, fingertips pressing against the fabric of her shirt. It wasn't as if she asked if it were still alive, but he felt the need to state the obvious. "It's gone."

"Weaver?" Blu walks into the room, a pink blush coating her cheeks when she sees them in each others' arms. "Oh, sorry. I need to see you when you have a moment."

He gave a nod and slowly disentangled himself from Roni's arms, stepping aside as he shot her a reassuring smile before follow Blu into the basement, his hands going inside of his pockets.

"I believe that the room with the.." Blu guides him towards an off room inside of the basement, pushing open the door to peer inside. "..extra jugs of water would be best for the hydroponics. If we get some lumber, we could build more shelving or something in the far end of the basement. I mean, we could have it anywhere, but with this room having a door already it keeps our food safe and out of the way of anything should it get inside the basement."

He gave a nod in agreement, it was a good idea and the room was large enough to hold everything without getting in the way of their dining or cooking. "Okay, yeah, this will work." Giving her a pat on the shoulder, he turned and began pacing the basement's expanse, eyes working over where they could store the water if they didn't want to just stack it in a corner. "I think there's a shelf in the cellar at your farm." He calls back as Blu makes her way into the main area where he's standing. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all. I think I know which one you're referring to." Her eyes turn glossy then, hand going up to the collar of her shirt as she began to toy with the necklace around her throat. "It would be a perfect addition."

—

Later that night when Roni sneaks into his bedroom, he already has the blankets pulled back for her. She climbs beneath them, bare legs brushing against his pajama bottoms as she snuggles close to his chest once again. "I've been thinking a lot about what happened at the water mill that day.." He swallows hard, eyelids closed, listening to her speak softly. "..and I think I would like to go back there with you. Tomorrow. If that would be okay?"

He nods slowly, hands pulling her closer to him against his better judgement. "It would." First thing he would need to alter the schedule he made tonight for tomorrow. Suddenly, he felt the bed shift followed by the warmth of lips against the stubble on his cheek. When he opens his eyes, he can make out a few of her features in the darkness as her hand reaches to cup his jaw, thumb tracing along the edge of it.

She's hesitant as she hovers close to him, her lips mere inches from his as she speaks in a hushed tone. "I want it to be perfect."

The air is thick around them as he inhales, eyes searching her features. "You want what to be perfect, Roni?" He's aware of how her breath hitches in her throat as she moves one leg over his own. Then she's leaning in and he's not turning away, not this time.

She claims his mouth with her own in a way that causes his heart to thud harder against his rib cage, it feels innocent and soft at first. The gentle caresses of her lips against his hesitant ones. "I trust you." Her voice is soft as she parts her lips and his tongue pushes past them, tasting her truth and pain, tasting her need and leaving her with his own. "I want this." Her fingers are in his hair, carding through the soft strands as his hands slide up her back, splaying out and dancing over each vertebrae. "Just this..." She gasps out before pulling away from the kiss to pepper his face in gentle kisses. "...for now."

His heart breaks as he remembers the guilt he's wrestling with, at the memory of him not being good for her but the second her mouth is back on his, it pushes the dark shadows back into the recesses of his mind and he's present, tethered to her soft breaths and pliable lips as he gives her his everything, all of the passion he can hold within his frame in a kiss.

"Is.." her hands are against his chest now, clinging to his shirt as if she's afraid she'll fall away, fall into her own dark corners of her mind. So he cups her face, keeping her there, using his mouth to keep her present, to assure her. "..that alright?" When he nods and mumbles a soft yes, he can feel her whimper against his lips before she tucks her head into the curve of his neck, her body wrapping around his.

"Goodnight, Roni." he says as he hears her return the same to him in a muffled soft voice and inwardly he wonders if she can feel his heart hammering away inside of him, if she can sense the fear that he will lose her one day..

Then it occurs to him that maybe — she's afraid of the same thing.


	13. Day 134

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Note:** I do not own anything mentioned in this fanfiction. The world is inspired by many zombie franchises. However the world and outbreak is leaning towards 28 days later though I'll also be pulling creativity out of my ass for this one, some stuff will be completely fabricated and odds are not plausible. The two main characters (as well as others brought in here) are from the OUAT franchise.
> 
>  **Characters:** They are not their characters as known in OUAT, so they have none of their memories. This is an AU. Also, relationships will probably be out of whack. It is a GOLDENQUEEN fanfiction. So they will be the main characters. Names used will be of the characters in OUAT though so you know who is who. I am giving additionals to their names, so like Weaver has a first name here.
> 
>  **Rating: M.** For sex, cussing, blood, violence. Also, There will be gore, of course. If details are going to get gross, I'll warn a paragraph ahead with two **. So you can know when to skip. Then a paragraph after when the gore is over, i'll Place a ##. The gore that will be WARNED will be gross. But other soft gore will be mentioned without the warning.
> 
>  **Chapters:** I have no idea how long this story will be as it is not completed.
> 
>  
> 
> **This note will be in every chapter.**

**After Outbreak - Day 134.**

Roni was standing nearest the door when Weaver made his way downstairs, dressed and ready for the day. Walking over to the mantel, he pinned up the schedule and then closed the space between him and the brunette. "Are you ready?" When she gave a nervous nod, he glanced over his shoulder at Mulan who nodded in understanding to keep an ear out in case they would need her. Then, pulling open the door, he walked outside with Roni next to him, descending the porch steps and heading in the direction of the water mill.

"Do you remember those Zombie films?" Roni asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as they made their way through the tall weeds.

"Which ones?" He chuckled, eyes on the tree line.

"Any of them, really. The old films weren't as scarring as the newer ones but ever since the outbreak, I haven't been able to find one of those that could have prepared us for the actual truth of it all. There's a weight on your chest and your brain is constantly on fire..."

"No rest of the fighters." Weaver interrupted, spewing thoughts that had in one form or another crossed his mind already. "I guess that's what makes many of us so different. The means of which we're willing to lower ourselves in order to _live_ and not die or-"

"Worse...become infected and kill everyone around us." Roni thrust her hands into her jeans, trying to keep the anxiety in her frame down to a bare minimum but already the clean air outside of the house was burning her lungs. "If-"

"I know what you're going to ask, already." Of course he did, but he had failed Milah in the same aspect. How could he ever promise Roni the same thing. "I won't be able to do it."

"How do you know? I mean, I'll likely go after you if you're with me."

He halted in his tracks and closed his eyes, listening to the surrounding noises as intently as he could - all the while trying to push away the need to call off the venture and head back to the house. But; she had kissed him - she had bared her soul last night and she deserved an explanation. "I had a wife..."

Roni noticed the past tense and automatically regretted having asked him to do such a thing if it had come down to it. "You don't-"

"Yes, I do." He made his way over to her and quickly checked the trees before meeting her dark chocolate gaze. "My wife and I were in this together, trying to survive to our best abilities. Our relationship wasn't perfect by any means. She wanted more than I could ever give her. Nothing I did could ever put a smile on her face later into our relationship, close to the infection outbreak. Then once it hit... We were arguing one day, outside of a station that we had hoped to find more people inside-" A shaky sigh left his lips as he tried to steel his nerves. "-We never found anyone when she was alive. But during that day, she raised her voice louder than usual and it caught whatever was in the field beside of the damn station and whatever it was launched at her. By the time I was able to aim and shoot it, it had already gotten blood in her mouth - only she didn't tell me that at the time. Said it was just on her lips. I believed her."

"Damn.." Roni hissed out, her eyes darting to the trees the same time his did, only to find nothing moving towards them and so they brought their eyes back to each other. "..I'm sorry..."

"As I've said before, it takes a day for the body to start the process. Or at least it has during the slow infections, which had been what happened to Milah. On our way outside the next day, she began puking up everything she had in her stomach - albeit it wasn't much - then blood followed soon after. Her body began purging itself, blood leaking from her eyes and nose...ears...and the screaming.." Weaver shook his head then motioned for Roni to follow him so that they could get to the water mill. "The point is, no matter how much pain my wife had been in - no matter how hungry she looked or how much she begged me to make it stop on that dirt road...I couldn't. I left her there, dying in the grass, the virus taking her over. I'm a coward in that aspect, Roni."

"You're not a coward. She was your wife, John. And even if you two had issues, it doesn't mean you didn't love her."

The second they arrived at the stream, he went across first, careful not to slip on the rocks - then watched on as she did the same. She took hold of his hand as they made their way towards the water mill, her grip tightening the closer they were to the building. "You've really come far today, it wouldn't be bad to turn around and try again once I get back from venturing tomorrow."

"You're going out tomorrow?" She asked, her eyes wide as a doe with what he guessed was fear. "Where will the group be headed?"

"We're probably going to try town again now. Just hope they have left and decided not to come back. If there's anything left of the place."

"Please be careful."

They both entered the building slowly, the sound of their feet against the stone echoing off of the walls on the inside. Weaver hated the scent, musky and old - only serving to remind him of how little time they all had if they weren't careful. Warmth shook him from his reverie as Roni placed her palms on both of his arms and tugged him towards her. She had her back against the stone as she reached up to his face and brought his lips closer to hers. The heat of her breath reminded him that she was still living with a heart beating hard in her chest, her warm skin cementing his feet to the ground as he lowered his mouth onto hers, stealing the breath from her lungs as he inhaled it in and gave her his own.

"Please be careful tomorrow." She mumbles against his lips, her mouth parting open to allow his tongue inside and he does so greedily, tasting her regardless of the fear that is sending alarms out through his head because he _needs_ this, she _needs_ it too. "Please.." Her tone is pleading as her hands reach up to card through his hair, brushing it out of his face and gathering it into her palms.

"I will.." He gasps out, pressing his forehead against hers, allowing them to catch their breath. When he heard something leave her lips quickly that sounded like _promise me,_ he gave a nod, not allowing himself to think on how being careful was like playing Russian roulette with a loaded pistol that had more bullets than was smart. "I promise." When the words left his lips, he heard it, the sound of twigs breaking beneath stumbling limbs. "Take this." Reaching behind him, he pulled out his gun and thrust it into her trembling hands despite her protests. "You're going to kill it, Roni. Kill your fear."

"I thought it was kill your heroes." She stumbles slightly as he tugs her out of the building and towards the field where they are in the open and not sitting ducks. He shakes his head at her and looks around, ears listening intently as the twigs snap again, the leaves rustle and break beneath something that is not set on keeping quiet. Then the snarls happen and he can feel Roni jump as she moves closer to him. "I can't do it, Weaver. I can't do this. Can you do it? Please?"

He shakes his head, turns to move her to where he was standing before. Getting behind her, his hands wrap around hers and bring the one with the gun in it up higher, near where the noise is coming from. He let's out a loud yell and then the snarling begins. That's when the brunette's trembling takes on a whole new level and the sight of the thing she needed to shoot came into view. "Count to three, Roni." Weaver instructs, lowering his hands to her waist as she stares directly at the infected in their eye-line coming out from the trees. The snarls and hisses only prove to make her hands quiver worse as she grips the base of the gun, forefinger on the trigger. "Breathe...let me hear you count."

"One..." Roni inhales a shaky breath into her lungs, her lashes batting wildly against her cheeks. "...two..." exhaling is more vocal than she wants it to be as it sounds like she is trying to say something along with the air leaving her lungs "...three..." when her finger pulls the trigger and she watches the thing push on, she almost panics but Weaver's hand on her pulls her focus back and she aims the gun again, this time trying to keep her arms and hands steady before she pulls the trigger - the moment the infected falls to the ground with a soft thud, she let's out a groan that slowly forms into a guttural sigh. "Did I get it?"

"Yes, you did." He hesitates a moment, pondering on pressing his lips to her temples but quickly thinks better of it and begins to make his way closer to the thing, Roni following on his heels. "What we'll need to do is chop it up once we're sure that it cannot rise up and bite us.." At the disgusted sound that comes from behind him, he chuckles. "I'll do the cutting this time, you can just make sure it's dead and then turn around."

"How do I make sure it's dead?" She asks as they get closer and the smell nearly causes her to lose her breakfast, putrid and heavy in the air around them. It reminds her of death, of blood, of hiding beneath limbs and carcasses.

"Aim the gun, point it at the back of it's head, shoot once..if it doesn't move after that, you're good. But it will come to if we don't cut it up." When she shoots again, he hears the rustling of the weeds as she turns quickly on her heels away from the image on the ground.

**.

Weaver reaches towards the belt of his jeans and pulls out his hunting knife and a pair of gloves that had been tucked into it. Slipping them on with a sound pop, he bends down and pressing his digits into the hole of the skull, grounding down with his arms to hold his weight until he hears a crack, that's when he uses his teeth to unsheathe the knife and starts cutting away at skin and muscle, regardless of how much is already gone.

"Plug your ears, I'll keep an eye out for you. And get down." He watches Roni place her hands on her ears and lower herself onto her knees and he silently hopes that nothing else will be coming out of the tree line within the next few minutes.

The force it takes to cut through the layers already begins to give the muscles in his arm a run for it's money as he cuts as deep as possible to remove the infected muscles and tendons, the things responsible for keeping infected moving. Once he has rid the legs of all of it's meat, he starts on the hips and back. Each slice oozing blood as dark as tar that is the consistency of coffee grounds. His gloves are soaked by the end of getting mostly all of the layers of skin and what's beneath it, including organs.

Pushing himself onto his feet, he glances over at Roni who is now settled right on her rear and using her feet to mess with the weeds, causing them to sway to whatever tune it seems she has in her head. It isn't until he slams his foot down on the leg of the infected, watching it splinter beneath his weight, that he notices it's the same tune he hummed when she were out of it. It makes breaking the rest of the bones a little less daunting as he uses it to calm his nerves.

The sun is waning when he's finished. He removes his gloves and drops them onto the pile. The entire process is taxing and most of it is probably useless, but they do this because it's always better safe than sorry. He moves over to Roni and motions for her to remove her hands from her ears. "I'm going to take this out into the forest where we dump things. Do not turn around unless you hear something that isn't me. Okay?" When she nods, he starts humming the tune she was, so she knows when he's coming back or going away. He keeps this up while taking handfuls off into the woods and nearest where they dump the remains.

##.

"Ready?" He calls out, making his way back to where Roni is standing looking out at the safe house in the distance. When she nods, they start back at a slow pace allowing them to take their time. "One day you'll have to do that and I honestly dread it for you. When we took Archie in, he told us what he thought was needed to make sure the virus didn't allow the body to move regardless of the gunshots and what not.."

"How bad is it? The whole process?" When she looks over at him, that same nagging feeling of not deserving her kind gaze burns him to his core.

"It's not humane." He sighs out as she inches closer to him, her hand finding his and their fingers entwining together. "The body used to be a human, just like you or me and so to do such a thing really adds pressure to the mind. Not to mention the stomach."

"Did you throw up the first time?" She asks, when he nods she lets out a groan. "It must be horrible then." There's a moment of pause where the only sound they hear is the rustling to the leaves and the soft shh sound of their feet against the grass or the weeds swiping past their bodies as they push on.

If he pushed all of his thoughts out of his mind, he could imagine this as a normal life. Him and a woman he's interested in walking back to his house perhaps after a sunset stroll through the woods, hand in hand. He can even pretend the scent of the infected isn't still lingering in his nostrils and instead focus on the smell of earth surrounding them - the oncoming signs of winter as fall is in the middle of ridding all of the plants of their lush green that they so beautifully hold during summer and spring. They stay like that, silent and reveling in the warmth of their hands as they finally get back into the house, ready to have their dinner and head up to bed for some well needed rest.


	14. Chapter 14

Due to stress, lack of time and lack of creativity; All fanfics of mine are now going to be orphaned. If you would like to continue any, please feel free to. The following is how I saw this fanfic ending.

The rogue team was going to take WEaver's house hostage. Killian was one of the members, but Weaver and Roni were going to sway him towards good. Killian would have sacrificed himself after a few hostages were sacrificed to the caged in zombies at the rogue base. Killian would let out the surviving members Weaver, Roni and Archie. Then release the zombies inside of the rogue base (with the help of Merlin who wanted revenge on them for killing his wife Blu and their baby) after locking them all in. Once Weaver, Roni and Archie were of safe distance to get free, Killian would then kill himself by gunshot to the head.

The three survivors would try and navigate through the forests around the rogue base, by the end of a few days, they would be starving and severely dehydrated. The last chapter would have had the three of them in the middle of a forest at night, footsteps approaching from all around. Weaver, Archie and Roni would then decide to kill themselves so that they would not have to endure the pain of dying or being infected. At the moment they have a blade at the ready, a light shines on the three of the huddling in the middle of the forest and they hear an american shout "We've found three survivors!" 

Ala, the end. They have been saved.


End file.
